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^73^,  ,yp;^ 


HARVARD 
COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 


9    P 


o 


THE 


WORKS 


OF 


THOMAS    SHEPARD, 


riRBT  PA8T0B  OF 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 


WITH  ▲ 


MEMOIR  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER. 


VOL.   III. 


-  BOSTON: 

DOCTBINAL   TRACT   AND   BOOK   80CIBTT. 

1853. 


CONTENTS 


TO 


!  VOLUME  m. 


I        » 
I 


THESES  SABBATICiB. 

OF  THE  THESES  OOVCKRimfG  THE  MOEALTTT  OF  THE 

SABBATH. 

Paoi 

1-4L        God  is  the  inperior  Duposer  of  man's  time, 25, 26 

I  7-^       Mad,  who  is  made  next  to  God,  and  to  retnrn  to  his  rest  at 

the  end  of  the  larger  circle  of  his  life,  is  to  retoro  to 
'  him  at  the  end  of  the  lesser  circle  of  eTCiy  week,    .    .    26, 27 

10-13.    What  a  moral  law  is  not, 28,29 

14,  IS.    How  a  divine  law  maj  be  said  to  be  moral, ......         29 

»  16.         What  a  moral  law  is,  strictly  token, 29 

17-2a    A  moral  law,  considered  in  a  strict  sense,  is  not  good  merely 
because  commanded,  but  is  therefore  commanded  be- 

caose  it  is  good, 30-^2 

^               21-23.    What  is  that  goodness  in  a  moral  law  for  which  it  is  com- 
manded,        33-35 

24, 25.    Bj  what  mles  maj  that  goodness  be  known,  which  are  fonr,    36, 37 
Dirers  consectaries  flowing  from  the  description  of  a  moral 

law.     .  ^ 37-41 

That  dirine  determination  of  something  in  a  law  doth  not 

always  take  awaj  the  morality  of  it, 42-44 

^  29-^.    That  those  are  not  moral  laws  only,  which  are  known  to 

all  men  by  the  light  of  cormpt  nature, 44-51 

That  the  whole  docalc^e,  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  is  the 
\  moral  law  of  God:   Tilssef  30,  where  objections  are 

answered  to, 51 

J9-42.    Three  sorts  of  laws  which  were  among  the  Jews,  moral, 

ceremonial,  judicial, 51-58 

43.         The  true  state  of  the  question  whether  the  Sabbath  be  a 

moral  or  ceremonial  law, 54 

44, 45.    The  agreement  on  all  hands  how  far  the  law  of  the  Sab- 
bath if  moral 55,56 

8 


1 


r 


r 

■ 

1 

CONTENTS. 

1  "' 

Something  general  la  sgraed  on,  and  wholhnr  it  lies  uodor 

this  gcneril,  vii.,  a  seventh  day, 

B7 

The  rliief  means  of  resolving  this  concrotarsj  in  opening 

m  "' 

tlie  menning  of  the  fourth  commandment,      .... 

57-59 

^M 

The  things  which  are  tnonl  in  (he  fourth  commandment 
are  either  primarily  or  secondarily  moral.      Those 
things  which  are  primarily   and  genernlly  moral   in 

me  lonrco  commannnient  arc   tcireu  i    i.  d  nine  ot 

58-60 

B3-S5. 

Not  the  worship  itself,  hut  only  tho  solemn  time  of  it  is  re- 

qnircd  in  the  fonrlh  commandment, 

61,  ea 

S6-5S. 

How  holy  dniies  »re  for  lime,       -.    .    .    . 

62,63 

69-63. 

Instituted  worship  is  not  directly  reqnircd  in  the  foarth,  but 
the   second    eomroandment    is    occasionally   cleared 

against  Wttllceus, 

64-69 

63. 

If  tlic  moral  woi-sliip  itself  be  not  reqaircd  herein,  mnch 

less  is  tho  whole  eeremanial  worship 

70 

64. 

Keither  the  pahlic  worship  only,  nor  Jewish  holy  dajs,  re- 

71 

GB. 

Kot  a  part  of  a  dny,  but  a.  whole  dny,  is  moral,  by  tho 

73 

66.67. 

God's  wisdom  did  rather  choose  a  whole  day  together  for 
special  worship  than  borrow  a  part  of  every  day,    ,    . 

73 

es. 

Tho  sin  of  Familists  and  others  who  allow  God  no  specini 

day,  hnt  mnko  all  days  eqaal, 

73 

69-71. 

How  any  day  is  said  to  bo  holy,  and  that  though  nil  places 

are  alike  holy,  yet  all  days  are  not  therefore  alike  holy, 

74,75 

72-78. 

Answer  to  such  scriplorea  as  seem  to  make  all  days  alilto 

79. 

holy  under  llie  New  Testament 

75-79 

The  chief  reason  why  some  abolish  tho  day  of  (he  Sabbath 

whole  decalogne  itself  as  any  rule  of  life  nnto  his  people. 

80 

BO. 

An  inward  Sabbath  may  woU  consist  with  a  Sabbath  day, 

BO 

81-65 

The  great  controversj  whether  the  law  be  a  mlo  of  life  (o 

a  believer,  discussed  in  sundry  theses 

83-86 

86-90 
91, 9S 

The  Spirit  is  not  tho  rale  of  life, 

is  tho  rule  of  life, 

BO-92 

*      OS. 

99 

5     94. 

The  rule  of  the  law  is  kepi  in  Christ  as  matter  of  our  jus- 

tilrcnlion,  ool  sanetiScation, 

9B,B6 

93 

B7. 

ii^A.     J 

H 

^^1 

I     ^ 


1 


-CONTENTS.  V 

formed  bj  ChriBt  for  believen  under  that  notion  of 

thankfulness,  bat  by  way  of  meriti 94 

98, 99.  Whether  a  believer  is  to  act  in  yirtae  of  a  command,  .  94-96 
100  The  sin  of  those  who  affirm  that  Christian  obedience  is 

not  to  be  pat  forth  by  virtae  of  a  command,    ...  97 

101.  To  act  by  virtue  of  a  commandment,  and  by  virtue  of 

God's  Spirit,  are  subordinate  one  to  another,    ...  99 

102-104.  Whether  the  law  is  our  rule  as  gi%'cn  by  Moses  on  Mount 

Sinai,  or  only  as  it  is  given  by  Christ  on  Mount  Sion,  99-101 
105, 106.  How  works  and  law  duties  are  sometimes  commended 

and  sometimes  condemned, 102 

107.         The  new  creature,  how  it  is  under  the  law, 102 

108, 109.  How  the  children  of  God  under  the  Old  Testament  were 

under  the  law  as  a  schoolmaster,  and  not  those  of 

the  New,       .    .  • 103-108 

110.  How  the  gospel  requires  doing,  and  how  not,  and  about 

conditional  promises  in  the  gospel, 109 

111.  Various  motives  to  obedience  from  the  law  and  gospel, 

from  God  as  a  Creator,  and  from  Christ  as  a  Re- 
deemer,  do  not  vary  the  rule, 1 10 

112.  Unbelief  is  not  the  only  sin, Ill 

113.  Three  evils  arising  from  their  doctrine  who  deny  the  di- 

recti\-e  use  of  the  moral  law, 112 

114.  The  sin  of  such  as  deny  the  humbling  work  of  the  law 

under  gospel  ministrations, 112 

115, 116.  Their  error  who  will  not  have  a  Christian  pray  for  par- 
don of  sin,  OT^tum  for  sin,      118,119 

117.  Whether  sanctification  be  a  doubtful  e%'idence,  and  may 

not  be  a  just  evidence,  and  whether  the  gospel  and 
all  the  promises  of  it  belong  to  a  sinner  as  a  sinner, 
and  whether  sight  of  corruption  be  (by  the  gospel) 
the  settled  evidence  of  salvation,  as  some  plead  for,  119 

118.  Whctlicr  the  first  evidence  be  without  the  being,  or  only 

the  seeing  of  grace, 128 

119.  The  true  grounds  of  evidencing  God's  love  in  Christ  cleared,  131 
120-122.  Not  only  a  day,  nor  only  a  Sabbath  day,  but  a  seventh 

day  determinedf'is  the  last  thing  generally  moral  in 

the  fourth  commandment, 133-135 

123, 124.  That  which  is  particularly  moral  herein  is  this  or  that 

particular  seventh  day,       138 

125.  The  morality  of  a  Sabbath  may  be  as  strongly  and  easily 
urged  from  the  comniandmcnt  of  observing  that 
particular  seventh  day  from  the  creation,  as  the 
morality  of  a  day, 139 

a* 


I 


9.  It  tB  not  in  man'a  liberty  to  take  «ny  one  of  tho  a 

days  in  a  week  to  be  the  Christian  SBbbalb,     .     .     .  139-141 

I.  A  determined  time  is  here  required,  but  not  what  natnre, 
but  nhnt  coanael,  shall  determine,  and  conseqaenlly 
this  or  Ihnt  geveolh  day, 143, 143 

3.  Tho  forco  of  God's  example  in  resting  tho  eeventh,  and 

working  Etx  da<ra,  how  far  it  extends 113,144 

6.  No  reason  that  God  must  hare  a  scccntli  year,  because 

he  will  have  a  seventh  day, 146 

How  a  cirenmstanco  of  titne  is  capable  of  moralily,    .     .  148 

The   law  of  the  Sabbatb  is  a  bomogeneal  pan  of  the 
moral  lew,  and  is  iheicfbre  moral ;  and  whether  it 

be  moral  in  respect  of  the  tetter, 146 

Whclhor  the  decalogne  is  said  to  be  the  moral  law  in  re- 
spect of  tho  greater  part  only,' 147 

0,  The  law  of  the  Sabbath  hath  equal  glory  with  all  the 

other  nine  morals,  and  bath  therefore  eqnal  raoralitj,  148-154 

1.  The  Sabbath  was  giyea  as  a  moral  law  to  man  in  in- 

nocency,        15S-158 

3.  The  Sabbath  said  to  be  sanctified,  (Gen,  ii.,)  not  merely 

io  a  way  of  dcsliDBlioa  or  anlicipatioo, 158-16S 

6.  Adam  in  innoceney  might  need  a  Sabbatb, 166-168 

No  types  of  Christ  given  to  man  in  innocency,  ....  16S 

8.  The  Sabbath  was  no  type  In  respect  of  its  original  ia- 

elilation, 169-174 

3.  Tho  heathens,  by  the  light  of  corrupt  nature,  bad  some 

kind  of  knowledge  of  the  Sabbath 174-176 

7,  The  law  of  naiuro  diversely  taken,  and  what  it  is,  .    .    .  I7G-1T9 
So  argument  to  proro  the  Sabbath  ceremonial,  because 

Christ  appointed  no  special  dajforihe  Lord's  supper,  179 

No  argument  to  prove  the  Sabbath  ceremonial,  because 

it  is  reckoned  among  tbe  cerenonials 179 

Christ  is  not  said  to  be  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  because 

it  was  ceremonial, 180 

Thongh  the  Sabbath  be  made  for  man,  yet  it  is  not  thore- 

fore  ceremonial, 131 

A  fond  distinction  of  the  Sabbalb  i"n  miuu  myalimetlileraii,  IS9 

Although  wo  arc  bound  to  rest  every  day  from  sin,  jet 

WB  are  not  therefore  to  make  every  day  a  Sabbath,  1S3 

5.  The  Sabbatb  was  not  proper  to  the  Jews,  because  they 

only  were  able  (na  some  sty)  to  observe  tbe  exact 

7.  An  onswer  to  M.  Carpenter's  anil  Ilcylin's  new-invented 

■rgument  against  the  moralil;  of  the  Sabbalb,    .    .  184 


CONTENTS. 


It  light  in  Scri|itit. 
Apottoliol  uinritlen  tnui 
Keilher  cbottli'i  cuMom, 


ror  change  of  the  Snbbatli, 
am  nagmiiud  for  clionge  of  il, 
r  any  imp«rkl  taw,  ground  of 


I 

I 


EoT  Ihe  obMrvklion  of  (he  ChriUiui  Sabbath  ariaeth  from 

the  Taarth  commaDdmenC 

How  the  tint  daj  ia  tbv  week  m»j  1h  called  the  •«ienlh4By, 

1.  The  wtl!  of  God  the  efficient  euur,  the  resninctiDii  of 

Christ  the  moral  eatiae,  of  thu  cliange  of  the  Sabbath, 

i.  The  uiettuiou  no  groBud  of  the  change  of  the  Sabbath,    . 

r.  The  ml  of  God  being  spoiled  in  his  &nt  creation  1^  the 

(jn  of  nun,  kenm  the  day  of  rvit  nuf  be  well  changed, 

I.  Neilfaer  the  three  days'  resting  of  Cbrist  in  the  grave,  nor 

tbe  ihirqr-three  yean  of  Chriat'e  labor,  Iho.groand  of 

oar  labor  and  rent  now, 

Kol  only  Chriil's  iwnnvctioo,  bat  an  affixed  type  10  the 
im  Sabbath,  U  the  groand  ot  the  abrogation  of  it,    - 

I.  What  the  afflxcd  type  to  the  Sabbath  is, 

Tba  mere  exerciMa  of  holy  duties  upon  a  day  are  doi  any 

tne  grotmi]  to  make  sadi  a  day  tbe  Cbriitiui  Sabbath, 

Bow  holy  duties  on  a  day  may  eviacc  a  S^bath  day,    .     . 

I.  Thafinl  dajof  Ihc  week  honored  by  the  primitive  chnrcbet 

boD  the  commaadniODl  of  the  Lord  Jcsns.       .... 

I.  The  apoalle'a  preaching  on  ihe  Jewish  Sabbath  doih  not 
aigue  it  lo  be  ihc  Christian  Sabbath,  ....... 

The  Stsl  da)  of  the  week  proved  to  be  Ihe  Christian  Sab- 

balh  by  divine  institution 

Tbe  Gnt  pUee  ilirgeA  for  Ibe  Chriition  Sabbath   (Acli: 

XI.  7)  cleared  by  oiae  consideraiioni, 

Tbe  second  place   (from   1    Cor.   x*L  I,  2(  clcarod    from 


>  general 


19S,  103 
193,194 


199,100 

soi.ioa 


97-99.  Tbe  third  leripiorc    (Her.  i.  10)   deared  hy  t' 

branches, 

i^^   40.        How  iha  Christian  Sabbath  a 

^^^L  nandoient.  althoo^h  it  be  n 

^^^L4I.        Hie  «fTtir  of  thuar,  vspcdnlly  ir 

^^H  ohaerred  two  Sabbaths, 

^^H  itS,H.  How  ihe  work  of  reileniplion  m 

^^B  10  obKrve  ilic  Snblulb, 

^^H   M.        Hon  fat  the  jud^meni  ol  God  upon  profaners  of  the  Lord's 

^^m  6af  i*  of  force  to  ovinoe  Ibo  halineaa  of  the  Sabbath, .. 


selh  from  the  fourth  com- 
31  particularly  named  in  it, 
Ihe  easicm  churches,  who 

■y  be  s  ground  far  all  men 


f 


r 

I 


I 


X  CONTENTS.  ^^^^H 

DiSbreDce  of  tbe  laints*  bondage  ander  sin  nnd  Sntui  from  oAen,  207-999 

Wherein  the  imrnrd  govcmmenl  of  Christ  c^onaiils, 300 

Wbea  the  govemment  of  Christ  is  cast  off,  Christ  him^lf  to  be 

received, Ml 

When  the  goal  receives  Christ  hiiDBcIf, 302 

Whole  aoni  mnst  close  with  the  whtrfe  will  of  Christ, 303-304 

Will  of  Christ  directing  or  correcting, SOt 

Will  of  Christ  cast  otT  in  jadgmeat  or  practice, 305 

Corao  to  Christ  for  strength  to  do  his  will 306 

Xho  benefits  of  itceiving  Christ  for  strength 307 

How  men  refuse  to  do  this 303 

For  what  ends  wc  mnst  aabmit  to  Christ, 30» 

The  ehutrih  Christ's  kingdom, '.         310 

Threefold  power  of  Christ  in  (be  church 310 

Sapieme  power  of  Christ  in  his  cbnrcb, 311 

Breach  of  corcnant  a  provokiog  sin, 312 

Breach  of  covenant  procures  the  desolatioo  of  churche*,      •    •    ■         SIS 

Setring  up  hnman  inventinns  casting  off  Christ, 314 

Sin  of  dialing  off  ordinances  for  temporal  advantages,  .  .  .  .  315-31 B 
Secret  pollntion  of  onlinanccs  whnt "drives  the  Lord  nwaj,  .  ,  .  31S,31» 
Tocomc  toordinanctis,  and  not  lo  Oirisi  in  them,  it  to  cASt  ofTChrfst,  3M 
We  must  bo  content  with  nothing  short  of  the  power  of  the  lift 

of  Christ, 328 

Tbe  chnrch  the  liighesl  tribanat  of  Christ  on  earth, 323 

What  |K>nrer  given  the  church, 399,  324 

Neglect  of  living  in  chnrch  Boetel^, 3S4 

Power  of  binding  nnd  loosing, 325 

DdIj  of  cbnich  members  lo  edify  one  another, 326 

Means  of  ediRcation, 397-330 

Hindcran CCS  of  matnal  edification,        330,331 

Fewer  of  chardi  officers 931-339 

The  sin  of  those  who  usurp  it, 939 

Tbe  evil  of  not  submitting  to  them, 330 

MiiCMTiage  of  chnrch  mcmben, 338 

Common  wealtha,  when  ordered  according  to  Chrbt's  will,  an  his 

kingdom, 339 

No  one  forni  of  civil  government  jure  diii'no 340 

We  most  be  subject  (o  the  civil  magistrate,  and  wbj, 341 

When  this  eubjectioa  it  cisl  off, 342 

Wbelher  he  ma;  pnnish  sins  after  the  first  table, 342, 343 

Kmr  and  heresy  die  bj  opposition,  truth  thrives  the  more.  .  .  .  343 
Error  and  heresj  may  not  moke  what  laws  thej  please,  ....  343 
Two  tbiugl  occasion  the  breach  of  ail  laws, 343 


CONTENTS.  XX 

Seldom  *  penecator,  bat  he  is  an  adulterer, 844 

The  eril  of  loose  companj, 844 

Soldiers  not  to  neglect  the  command  of  their  leaders, 844, 845 

Townsmen  shoald  obey  town  orders, 345 

God's  laws  only  absolately  bind  conscience, 345, 346 

All  good  laws  either  expressly  mentioned  in  the  word,  or  dedaced 

from  it, 346 

Whj  all  laws  shoald  be  according  to  the  word 347 

Homan  laws,  agreeable  to  the  word,  bind  conscience,  and  why,    .  847 
What  a  Christian  shoald  do  in  case  thej  be  not  according  to  the 

word, 347 

Things  indifferent  not  to  be  restrained  by  law, 348 

Laws  for  pablic  good  to  be  submitted  to, 349 

Of  breach  of  laws  merely  penal, 349 

The  sin  of  serrants  not  subject  to  their  masters, 350 

In  places  of  liberty,  most  danger  of  licentiousness, 351 

Ciod  hath  many  wars  to  bring  into  bondage  when  his  goyemment 

is  cast  off, 351, 352 

Reason  to  be  thankful  for  our  liberties, 352 

Means  of  thankfulness, 352,  353 

Ways  in  which  liberty  may  be  abused, 353, 354 

Look  not  for  an  earthly  paradise  of  Christ, 355 

Spiritual  refreshments  abundant  recompense  for  temporal  dis- 
tresses,      355 

Hotires  to  come  under  Christ's  government, 355 

Difference  between  God's  senrice  and  the  ^nrioe  of  others,  .    .    .  356 

Wherein  to  submit  to  Christ, 356 

ETeiy  one  to  whom  the  gospel  comes  bound  to  beliere,    ....  358 

Objections  against  believing  answered, 358 

Love  to  Christ  an  evidence  that  we  are  his, 858 

How  great  a  sin  to  neglect  this, 359 

to  submit  to  Christ, 859 


INEFFECTUAL  HEARING  OF  THE  WORD. 

Christ  the  true  Messiah, 863 

What  was  the  Father's  testimony, 863 

/.  Two  degrees  of  knowing  God, 364 

A  man  may  hear  the  word,  and  not  hear  God  speaking  In  it,    .    .  864-866 


JBl  '  CONTENTS.  ■ 

mj  the  Mints  find  sncb  alterationB  In  tihaniselvcs  whon  ihtj  heu 
the  word 8 

How  ire  we  to  know  whether  we  have  heiird  the  Lord's  Toice  in 
the  word 3 

God'»  Toicfi  carrius  liome  Christ, 

The  eflicBey  of  the  word  may  lie  hid, 

The  efficacy  of  tlio  word  maj  be  lost  afler  it  huth  been  felt,  ...  8 

Rot  needful  alwuya  to  feel  it  alike, 8 

Not  preserved  in  a  spirit  of  iirayer, 

Nat  thankfoloeBa  for  the  good  found, 

A  double  virloe  in  the  word  to  beget  and  nourish. 

EIScBcy  of  the  word  sppenrs  in  a  power  of  conflict  againit  comption, 

Feeling  the  clBcacy  of  the  word  an  pvidcneo  of  election,  .... 

Victory  against  sin  either  complete  or  incomplete, 


rs  how  to  pfcaci 


B«»t  not  in  onf 

How  to  hear  the  word  effcctnally 

Come  to  hoHT,  moDming  nnder  a  aenae  of  iafirmiiies, 

How  to  hear  God  speaking  in  the  word, 

Tnut  not  to  the  outward  word,  but  to  the  grace  of  Ood  wHh  it,    . 

Place  onr  happiness  in  closing  with  the  word, 3 

Brery  tittle  of  the  word  cost  the  Wood  of  Chriat, 

IT  not  under  the  power  of  the  word,  we  are  under  the  power  of  Inat, 
Tbe  comfort  of  the  word  remains  till  deatb,  yea,  nnto  eternal  life, 


MEDITATIONS   AND   aPIRITUAL   EIPEIUEItCBS, 

(Psitnci,  By  DSTliI  Iliiio«ii,) 

IBB  CLRAB  SUNSHINE  OP  THE  GOSPEL  BREAKING  FOSTH 
BPON   THE   INDIANS   IN    NEW   ENGLAND, 

TBE  CHURCH   UEUBEBSHir  Of    CHtLDBES, 


THESES     SABBATICJl, 


OH 


THE  DOCTRINE 


OF 


THE   SABBATH; 

WHBBEIN   ARB  CLBARLY  OISCUSSBD 

THE    MORALITY,    TIIE    CHANGE,    THE    BEGINNING,    AND 
THE  SANCTIFICAllON  OP  THE  SABBATH, 

DIVERS   CASES   OF  CONSCIENCE    RESOLVED, 

AND  TII£  MORAL  LAW,  A8  A  RULE  OF  LIFE  TO  A  BELIKVER, 
OCCASIONALLY   AND  DISTINCTLY  HANDLED 


Neh.  ziii.  17«  18.  —  '*  What  eril  thinff  is  thin  that  ye  do,  and  profane 
the  Sahbath  day  ?  Did  not  your  fathers  thus,  and  did  not  our  God 
brinK  all  this  evil  upon  us,  and  upon  this  city  ?  yet  yo  bring  more 
wrath  upon  Israel  by  profaning  the  Sabbath.'* 

Jbr.  zrii.  24,  25.  —  "  If  ye  hallow  the  Sabbath,  to  do  no  work  therein, 
then  shall  there  enter  into  the  gates  of  this  city  kings  and  princes.'* 


PREFACE 


THE  AUTHOR  TO  THE  READER. 


TexT  a  seventh  part  of  time  hatb  been  religiously  and  univer- 
sally observed  both  under  the  law  and  under  Ibe  gospel,  is  without 
■U  controversy;  the  great  doubt  and  difficulty  which  now  re- 
mains cmtceming  this  time  is  the  morality  of  it,  whether  it  was 
tinu  observed  in  the  Christian  churches  by  unwritten  tradition, 
or  by  divine  commisaion ;  whether  from  the  churches'  custom,  or 
Christ's  command ;  whether  as  a  moral  duty,  or  as  a  human 
law :  for  although  some  would  make  the  observation  of  such  a 
portion  of  time  ibe  sour  fruit  of  the  Ebionitcs'  superslitioua  doc- 
trines, yet  all  the  ancient  and  best  writers  in  the  purest  timea  do 
gi»B  micb  honor  to  it,  that  whoever  doubts  of  it  must  either  be 
utterly  ignorant,  or  willfully  blinded  in  the  knowledge  of  the  his- 
tories and  doctrines  of  those  times,  and  must  desire  a  candle  to 
■bow  them  the  aun  and  noonday.  Clemens  only  seems  to  cast 
(om«  stains  on  it  by  making  all  days  equal,  and  every  day  a  Sab- 
bath ;  but  upon  narrow  search,  his  meaning  may  appear,  not  to 
deny  the  observation  of  the  day,  but  only  to  blame  the  froth  and 
TBoity  of  sundry  Christians,  who,  if  they  externally  observed  the 
day,  they  cared  not  how  they  lived  every  day  after :  nor  is  it  to 
be  wondered  at  if  Origen  turn  this  day  sometime  into  an  allegory 
and  a  continual  spiritual  rest  day,  who  miserably  transforms 
(many  times)  the  plainest  Scriptures  into  such  shapes,  and  Inms 
their  subslanca  into  such  shadows,  and  beating  out  the  best  of  (be 
kataeKfoeds  hit  guests  with  such  chaff  and  busks  ;  and  although 
wtaaf  OttMr  festivals  were  observed  by  those  times,  which  may 


» 


10  TREPACE. 

make  the  SabbntU  suspected  lo  be  bora  out  of  the  same  womb 
of  human  custom  with  the  rest,  yet  we  shall  find  the  seventh 
day's  real  to  have  another  crown  of  glory  set  upon  the  head  of  it 
by  the  holy  men  of  G!od  in  those  times  than  upon  those  which 
superstition  so  soon  hatched  and  brought  iurth  ;  so  that  they  that 
rvud  the  histories  of  thofie  times,  in  observing  two  Sabbaths  in 
some  places,  Easter,  Whitsunday,  yea,  divers  ethnic  and  heathen- 
ish daya,  will  need  no  other  comment  on  those  testa  of  Paul, 
wherein  he  condemns  the  observation  of  days ;  which,  beginning 
to  fly  abroad  in  the  daylight  of  the  apostles,  might  well  outface 
the  succeeding  ages,  and  multiply  with  more  authority  in  darker 
times ;  yet  so  as  that  the  seventh  day's  rest  (call  it  what  you 
will)  still  kept  its  place  and  ancient  glory,  as  in  the  sequel  ahall 
appear. 

When,  therefore,  the  good  will  of  Him  who  dwelt  in  the  burn- 
ing bush  of  the  aiSictcd  primitive  churches  gave  princes  and 
emperors  to  be  their  nursing  fathers,  pious  Constantiue,  among 
other  Christian  edicts,  enjoins  the  observation  of  the  Lord's  day ; 
wherein  (if  he  was  bound  by  his  place  to  be  a  nourishing 
father)  he  went  not  beyond  hia  commission,  in  swaddling  and 
cherishing  this  truth  and  apgtointnient  of  Christ,  and  not  suffer- 
ing  it  to  die  and  perish  through  the  wickedness  of  men ;  the 
power  of  princes  extending  to  see  Christ's  laws  observed,  though 
not  to  impose  any  humau  inventions  and  church  constitutions  of 
their  own.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  this  princely  edict  was  mixed 
with  some  imperfection  and  corruption,  it  falling  loo  short  in 
some  things,  and  extending  loo  far  in  others ;  but  there  is  no  juat 
cause  for  any  to  stumble  much  at  this,  that  knows  the  sick  bead 
and  heart  by  the  weak  and  feeble  pulse  and  cross  temper  of  those 
clouded  though  otherwise  triumphing  times. 

The  successors  of  this  man  child  (bom  out  of  the  long  and 
weary  throes  of  the  poor  travailing  church)  wei'e  enlarged  gener- 
ally in  their  uare  and  conscience  to  preserve  the  religious  honor 
due  to  this  day,  until  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great,  who.  in  the 
latter  end  of  Lis  reign,  observing  how  greatly  the  Sabbath  was 
profaned,  (especially  by  the  continuance  and  lewdness  of  church- 


I 

I 


I'UKFACi;.  It 

men.)  did  tfaerefore  caII  five  nalioiial  councils,  (which  I  need  not 
here  mention,)  in  all  which  the  Subbath  b  advanced  to  as  strict 
observation  to  the  full  a^  hath  been  of  Ute  ycai's  coodemned  hy 
wme  in  the  Sabbalariiu]  reformers,  that  it  is  s.  wonder  how  any 
man  should  cast  off  all  shame,  and  so  far  forget  himselt'  as  to 
make  the  Sabbutb  a  device  of  Fulco,  or  Peter  Bruis,  EustacLJus, 
or  the  Book  at  Golgotha,  and  put  the  visor  of  novelly  upon  the 
ag«d  fac«  of  it,  as  if  it  were  scarce  known  to  anj*  of  the  martyrs 
in  Qaeen  Marj's  time,  but  receiving  Gtrengih  and  growth  from 
Ua«ter  Perkins,  was  first  hatched  and  received  life  from  under 
the  wings  of  a  few  \ate  disciplinarian  zealots. 

jVnd  it  con  not  be  denied  bat  that  the  Sabbath  (like  many  other 
precious  appointments  and  truths  of  God)  did  shake  ofi'her  dust, 
ind  put  on  her  comely  and  beautiful  garments,  and  hath  been 
rntieh  honored  and  magnified,  since  the  times  of  Ilie  reformation; 
the  doctrine  and  darknes:^  of  Popery  (like  that  of  the  Phari- 
««e«)  Dot  only  obscuring  the  doctrine  of  faith,  but  also  of  the  law 
and  obedience  of  faith,  and  so  hath  obscured  this  of  the  Sabbalh  ; 
only  herein  they  did  excel  their  forefathers  the  scribes  end 
nnriwes,  for  these  added  their  own  superstitious  resting  from 
ikings  nnnlful  and  lawful  to  their  merely  externa]  observation 
of  the  day  ;  but  they  (unto  their  external  observation  of  the 
ttame  of  the  day)  ailded  their  abominable  profunntiona  to  it,  in 
Jby  games,  and  May  poles,  in  sports  an<l  pastimes,  in  dancing 
tai  revclings,  and  so  laid  it  level,  and  made  it  equal,  (in  a  man- 
a*r,)  to  the  rest  of  tlieir  holy  days  ;  that  as  th£y  came  to  shuRle 
out  the  second  commandment  almost  out  of  the  decalt^ue,  so 
■D  lime  they  came  to  be  blinded  with  that  horror  of  darkness,  aa 
to  translale  the  words  of  the  commandment  into  some  of  their 
Mtechiatn*,  remember  to  ktep  the  holy  J'etticaU  ;  and  therefore 
IhoM!  woriliies  of  the  reformation  who  have  contended  for  all  that 
'.fcotior  which  is  duo  to  this  day  are  unjustly  aspersed  for  ptead- 
fag  for  a  Jewish  and  superstitious  strictness,  when  the  cause  they 
'  fctn'lh  is  no  other,  in  truth,  than  to  vindicate  the  Sabbath,  both  in 
'"%»  doctrine  and  observation  of  it,  from  Papists'  profaneness ; 
tfaerefore  all  the  world  may  see,  that  under  pretense  of  op* 


4 


posiug  in  others  a  kiDd  of  Judaazing  upon  this  day,  ihe  adver^ir 
ries  of  it  do  nothing  else  but  maintain  a.  gross  point  of  practical 
Popery,  who  are  by  law  most  ignorant  und  gross  profanera  of 
this  day ;  and  therefore  when  many  of  Christ's  serranta  are 
branded  and  condemned  for  placing  bo  much  of  religion  in  the 
observation  of  this  day,  and  yet  Bishop  White  and  some  others 
of  them  shall  acknowledge  as  much  as  they  plead  for,  if  other 
festivals  be  taken  in  with  it  ordained  by  the  church,  (as  that  they 
are  the  nursery  of  religion  and  all  virtue,  a  means  of  planting 
faith  and  saving  knowledge,  of  heavenly  and  temporal  blessings, 
and  the  profanation  of  them  hateful  to  God  and  aU  good  men 
that  fear  God,  and  to  be  punislied  in  those  which  shall  offend,) 
they  do  hereby  plainly  hold  forth  what  market  they  drive  to, 
and  what  spirit  acts  them  in  setting  up  man's  posts  by  God's 
Pinal's,  and  in  giving  equal  honor  to  other  festivals  and  holy  days, 
which  those  whom  they  oppose  do  maintain  as  due  to  the  Sab- 
bath alone,  upon  better  grounds. 

The  daystar  from  on  high  visiting  Ihe  first  reformers  in  Ger- 
many, enabled  them  la  gee  many  things,  and  so  to  scatter  much, 
yea,  most,  of  the  Popish  and  horrible  darkness  which  generally 
ovei'spread  the  face  of  all  Europe  at  llial  day  ;  but  divers  of  them 
did  not  (as  well  they  might  not)  see  all  things  with  Ihe  like 
clearness,  whereof  this  of  the  Sabbath  hath  seemed  to  bo  one : 
their  chief  difficulty  lay  here;  they  saw  a  moral  command  for  a 
seventh  day.  and  yet  withal  a  change  of  that  Hrst  seventh  day, 
and  hence  thought  that  something  iu  it  was  moral  in  respect  of 
the  command,  and  yet  something  ceremonial,  because  of  the 
change ;  and  therefore  they  issued  their  thoughts  here,  that  it 
was  partly  moral  and  partly  ceremonial,  and  hence  their  observa- 
tion of  the  day  hath  been  (answerable  to  their  judgments)  more 
lax  and  loose  ;  whose  arguments  to  prove  the  day  partly  ceiemo- 
niol  have  (upon  narrow  examination)  made  it  wholly  ceremo- 
nial ;  it  being  the  usual  unhappiness  of  such  arguments  as  arc 
produced  in  defense  of  a  lesser  error  to  grow  big  with  some 
man  child  in  them,  which  in  lime  grows  up,  and  so  serve  only 
to  maintain  a  far  greater;  and  hence  by  that  part  of  tite 


I 


PBEFACt.  13 

controversy  ihey  have  laid  foundaliona  of  much  looseness  upon 
tbat  day  ajuong  themselves,  and  have  unawares  laid  ihe  corner 
■ones  of  some  gross  points  of  Familism,  And  strengtheaed  hereby 
tte  haada  of  AriDioians,  malignants,  and  prelates,  aa  lo  profane 
tte  Sabbath,  so  to  make  hkc  of  ihcir  principles  for  tiie  introduc- 
tion  of  all  human  inventions  under  the  name  and  shadow  of  the 
church,  which  if  it  hath  power  lo  authorize  and  estabhsh  such 
a  (lay  of  worship,  let  any  man  living  then  name  what  invention 
b«  can,  bni  that  it  may  much  more  easily  be  ushered  in  upon  the 
■ame  ground  ;  and  therefore,  though  posterity  hath  cause  forever 
to  admire  God's  goodness  for  that  abundance  of  light  and  life 
poared  out  by  those  vessels  of  glory  in  the  first  beginnings  of 
leformatim,  yet  in  this  narrow  of  the  Sabbath  it  is  no  wonder  if 
they  stepped  a  little  beside  the  lAith  ;  and  it  is  to  be  charitably 
hoped  and  believed,  thai,  had  they  then  foreseen  what  ill  use 
Mme  ia  af\er  ages  would  make  of  their  principles,  they  would 
kavB  been  do  otherwise  minded  than  some  of  their  followers  and 
fifenda,  «si>ecially  in  the  churches  of  Scotland  and  England,  who 
■ight  well  «ee  a  little  farther  (as  they  use  lo  s])cak)  when  they 
Mood  upon  such  tall  men's  shoulders.  __ 

II  la  easy  lo  demonstrate  by  Scripture  and  argument,  as  well 
m  by  experience,  tbat  religion  is  just  as  the  Sabbath  is,  and 
decays  and  grows  as  the  Sabbath  is  esteemed :  the  immediate 
bodor  and  worsliip  of  God,  which  is  brought  forth  and  swaddled 
ID  the  Ihr«e  IJrsI  commandments,  is  nursed  up  and  ruckled  in  the 
boKun  of  tlie  Snbbutli.  If  Popery  will  have  gross  ignorance  and 
btind  devotion  continued  among  its  miserable  captives,  let  it  then 
bo  made  (like  the  other  festivals)  a  merry  and  a  sporting  8ab- 
hult ;  if  any  state  would  reduce  the  people  under  it  lo  the 
Hant'uh  fajtb  and  blind  obedience  again,  let  them  erect  (for  law- 
fal  pastimes  and  sports)  a  dancing  Sabbath  ;  if  the  God  of  this 
worU  wotild  have  all  professors  enjoy  a  total  immunity  from  the 
Uw  of  God,  and  all  manner  of  licentiousness  allowed  them  with- 
oot  ebeck  of  oonscience,  let  him  ihen  make  an  every-day  Sabbath. 
If  tfapre  hatli  been  more  of  the  power  of  godliness  appearing  in 
that  tmall  iudosure  of  the  British  imlion  than  in  those  vast 
TO  I.,  in.  it 


I 

I 

I 

I 


14 


PRKPACE. 


contineaU  elsewhere,  where  reformation  and  more  exact  church 
discipline  have  taken  place,  it  cannot  well  he  imputed  lo  an}-  out- 
ward means  more  ibau  their  excelling  care  and  conscience  of 
honoring  (he  Sabbath;  and  although  Master  Rogers,  in  his  Fref* 
ace  Id  the  39  Articles,  injuriously  and  wretchedly  makes  tlie 
strict  observation  of  the  Sabbath  the  last  refuge  of  lies,  by  which 
Blralagem  the  godly  ministers  in  former  times,  being  driven  out 
of  all  their  other  strongholds,  did  hope  in  time  lo  drive  out  tlie 
prelacy,  and  bring  in  again  their  discipline,  yet  thus  much 
may  be  gathered  from  the  month  of  such  an  accuser,  that  the 
worship  and  government  of  the  kingdom'  and  church  of  Christ 
Jesus  is  accordingly  set  forward  as  the  Sabbath  ia  honored. 
Prelacy,  Popery,  profaiieness  must  down,  and  shall  down  ia 
time,  if  the  Sabbath  be  exaetly  kept. 

But  why  the  Lord  Christ  should  Iteep  bis  servanla  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  to  clear  up  and  vindicate  this  point  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  welcome  it  with  more  love  than  some  pre- 
dous  ones  in  foreign  churches,  no  man  can  imagine  any  other 
cause  than  God's  own  free  grace  and  tender  love,  whose  wind 
"  blows  where  and  when  it  will ;  Deus  noltit  h<ec  otia  fecit,  and 
the  tiroes  are  coming  wherein  God's  work  will  better  declare  the 
reason  of  this  and  some  other  discoveries  by  (he  British  nation, 
which  modesty  and  hnmilty  would  forbid  all  sober  minds  to  make 
mention  of  now. 

That  a  seventh  day's  rest  hath  (therefore)  been  of  universal 
observation,  is  without  controversy;  the  morality  of  it  (as  hath 
been  said)  is  now  the  controversy.  In  the  primitive  times,  when 
the  question  was  propounded,  Servtuii  Ihminicum  i  (Hast  ihou 
kept  the  Lord's  day?)  their  answer  was  generally  this :  Chri$- 
tiania  mm  ;  intermitUre  Tionpostum,  (i.  e.,  I  am  a  Christian;  lean 
not  neglect  it.)  The  observation  of  this  day  was  the  badge  of 
their  Christianity.  This  was  their  practice ;  but  what  their 
judgment  was  about  the  morality  of  it  is  not  safe  to  inquire  from 
the  tractates  of  some  of  our  late  writers  in  this  controversy ;  for 
it  is  no  wonder  if  they  that  thrust  the  Sabbath  out  of  para- 
dise, and  banish  it  out  of  the  world  until  Moses'  time,  and  then 


WE 


PREFACE.  15 

mak«  it  »  mere  ceremony  all  bis  time  till  Cbrisl's  ascension.  If 
■ince  thai  time  lliey  bring  it  a  peg  luirer,  and  moke  it  ta  be  a  / 
haman  moslilution  of  the  church,  rather  than  any  divine  insd- 
tation  of  Christ  Jesus,  —  and  herein  those  that  oppose  the  morality 
of  it  by  dint  of  argument,  and  out  of  candor  and  conscience, 
propose  their  grounds  on  which  they  remain  unsatiaficd,  —  I  do 
from  my.  he^art  both  highly  and  heartily  honor,  and  especially  the 
labors  of  Master  Primrose  and  Muster  Ironside,  many  of  whose 
arguments  and  answers  to  what  is  usually  said  in  defence  of  the 
morality  of  the  day,  whoever  ponders  them  shall  find  them 
heavy  1  the  foundations  and  sinews  of  whose  discourses  I  have 
therefore  had  a  special  eye  to  in  the  ensuing  theses,  with  a  most 
&ee  submission  of  what  is  here  returned  in  answer  thereto,  to 
the  censure  of  belter  minds  and  riper  thoughia ;  being  verily 
persuaded,  that  whoever  finds  no  knots  or  difficulties  to  humble 

spirit  herein,  either  knows  not  himself,  or  not  the  controversy. 

It  Bd  for  those  whose  chief  arguments  are  reproaches  and  re-  I 
viliiigs  of  imbittered  and  corrupt  hearts,  rather  than  solid  reasons  ' 
of  modest  minds,  I  wholly  decline  the  pursuit  of  such  creatures, 
irhoK  weapons  is  their  swell,  and  not  any  eiren'gth,  and  do  leave 
them  to  His  tribunal  who  judgeth  righteously,  for  blearing  the 
eje«  of  the  world,  and  endeavoring  to  exasperate  princes,  and 
make  wise  men  believe  that  this  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath  is  but  a 
kt«  novelty  ;  a  doctrine  tending  to  a  high  degree  of  schism;  a 
bnatio  Jwlaixing,  like  his  at  Tewksbury  ;  Sabbata  tanda  cola,  i.  e., 
ft  piece  of  disciplinary  policy  to  advance  Presbytery  ;  a 
■itioas  seething  over  of  the  hot  or  whining  simplicity  of  ai 
rigid,  crabbed,  precise,  crackbrained,   Pnritimical  party.     The\ 

iieoDB  God  hath  his  little  days  of  judgment  in  this  life  lo  clear 

and  vindicate  the  righteous  cause  of  his  innocent  servants 
[lapinit  all  gainsayers ;  and  who  sees  not  (but  those  that  will  be 
Wind)  that  the  Lord  hath  begun  lo  do  something  this  way  by 
late  broils  ?  The  controversy  God  hath  with  a  land  ia 
HIBity  times  in  defense  of  the  controversies  of  his  faithful  wit. 
tiMtM  i  the  sword  maintains  argument,  and  makes  way  lor  that 
whieh  the  word  could  not :  those  plants  which  (not  many  years 


I 


rhei 


H  PItBFACE. 

since)  most  men  would  not  believe  not  lo  be  of  God's  planting, 
hath  the  Lord  pulled  up.  Tlie  three  innocent  firtbrands  so  fust 
tied  to  Bome  foies'  tails  are  now  prelly  well  quenched,  and  tlie 
tails  almost  cut  off.  This  cnuse  of  the  Sabbath,  also,  the  Lord 
JeauB  ia  now  handling ;  God  hath  cast  down  the  crowns  of 
princes,  stained  the  robes  of  nobles  with  dirt  and  blood,  broken 
the  crosiers,  nnd  torn  the  miters  in  pieces,  for  the  controversy  of 
his  Sabbath.  (Jer.  xvii.  27.)  He  hath  already  made  way  for  his 
discipline  also,  (which  they  feared  the  precise  Sabbath  would 
introduce  again,)  by  such  a  way  as  hath  made  all  hearts  lo  ache, 
just  according  to  the  words,  never  to  be  forgotten,  of  Mr.  Udal, 
in  his  Preface  to  the  "  Demonstration  of  Discipline."  The 
Council  of  Matiacon  imputed  tlie  irruption  of  the  Golha  into  the 
empire  to  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath.  Germany  may  now 
.  sec  (or  else  one  day  they  shall  see)  that  one  great  cause  of 
their  troubles  is,  that  the  Sabbath  ivanled  its  rest  in  the  days  of 
I  their  quietness.  England  was  at  rest' till  they  troubled  God's 
I  Sabbath.  The  Lord  Jesus  must  reign ;  the  government  of  hia 
house,  the  laws  of  his  kingdom,  the  solemn  days  of  his  worahip 
must  be  established  ;  the  cause  of  his  sulfering  and  afflicted  ser- 
vants, (not  of  our  late  religious  scomers  at  ordinances,  laws,  and 
Sabbaths,)  who  are  now  at  rest  from  their  labors,  but  in  former 
times  wept,  and  prayed,  and  petitioned,  and  preached,  and  writ, 
and  suffered,  and  died  for  these  ibinga,  and  arc  now  crying  under 
the  aitar,  must  and  shall  certainly  he  cleared  before  men  and 
Tangels.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pasa  away  before  one  tittle  of 
|_the  law  (much  less  a  whole  Sabbath)  shall  perish. 

But  while  I  am  thus  musing,  methinks  no  measure  of  tears 
are  sufficient  to  lament  the  present  state  of  times ;  that  when 
the  Lord  Jesus  was  come  forth  to  vindicate  the  cause  and  con- 
troversy of  Ziou,  there  should  rise  up  other  instruments  of  spir- 
'  itual  wickednesses  in  high  pkees,  to  blot  out  the  name  and  sweet 
remembrance  of  this  day  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
enemies  of  the  Sabbath  are  now  not  so  much  malignant  lime- 

#  servers  and  aspiring  brambles,   whom    preferment  principalljr    ' 

*  bissed  lo  knock  at  ttie  Sabbath ;  but  those  who  have  eaten  b: 


pnncipalljr    ^m 


17 


irith  Christ  (a  generation  of  professing  peopU')  do  lift  up  their 
keel  ogainet  liis  Sabbath.  So  that,  what  could  not  formerly  be 
done  against  it  hy  angels  of  darkness,  tlie  old  serpcut  takes 
SDolber  course  to  effect  it,  by  seeming  angels  of  light ;  who,  by  a 
Dew  device,  are  raised  up  to  build  the  scpulehers  of  those  who 
per»eeated  tlie  prophets  in  former  limes,  and  to  justify  all  the 
books  of  sporU,  and  the  reading  of  ihem  ;  yea  ail  the  former  and 
pretcnl  profanations ;  yea,  scoffs  and  scorns  against  the  Uabbalh 
&y.  For  as  in  former  times  ihey  have  ceremonial! zed  it  out  of 
the  decalogue,  yet  by  human  eongtiliUio  have  retained  it  in  the 
cbnrch ;  so  these  of  later  times  have  spirilualixed  it  out  of  the 
deodogue.  yea,  oul  of  all  the  churches  in  the  world.  For  by 
making  the  Christian  Sabbath  to  be  only  a  spiritual  Sabbath  in 
the  bosom  of  God  out  of  Heb,  iv.,  they  hereby  abolish  a 
•efeDlb-dKy  Sttbbaih,  and  make  every  day  equally  a  Sabbath  to 
k  Clirisiiao  man.  This  I  hope  will  be  the  lost,  but  it  is  the  most 
•pecioiu  and  fiiircsl  color  and  banner  that  ever  was  erected  to 
Sgbt  under  against  the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  aiid  is  most  Hi  lo  dc' 
■etre.  not  only  some  sodden  men  of  loose  and  wanton  wits,  but 
capeeially  men  of  spiritual,  but  too  shallow  minds.     In  limes  of 

(as  these  are  reputed  lo  be.)  Satan  comes  not  abroad  usually 
to  deceive  with  fleshly  and  gross  forgeries  and  his  cloven  foot, 
(for  every  one  almost  would  then  discern  his  hallings,)  but  with 

mystical,  yet  strong  delusions,  and  invLtible  chains  of  dark- 

'iriiereby  he  binds  his  captives  the  faster  to  the  judgment  of 
day-  Aud  therefore  the  watchword  given  in  the  bright 
ng'  times  of  the  apostle  was,  to   try  tlie  spirits,  and 

re  Dot  every  spirit.  And  take  heed  of  spirits,  who  indeed 
were  only  fleshly  and  corrupt  men,  yet  called  spirits,  because 
they  pretended  lo  have  much  of  the  Spirit,  and  their  doctrines 
only  to  advance  the  spirit ;  the  fittest  and  fairest  cobwebs 
:ve  and  entangle  the  world,  in  those  discerning  times,  that 

ly  eould  be  spun  out  of  the  poisonful  bowels  of  corrupt  and 


1 


I 


The   limes  are   now  ron 
nlly  of  the  old  monks,  i 


wherein,  by  the  refined  myi 
only  the  Sabbath,  but  also 


lysticalj 
aUlbe 


I 


I 


I 


ordinaneea  of  Clirisl  in  ihe  New  Testament,  are  allegorized  and 
spiriiualized  out  of  the  world.  And  therefore  it  is  no  marvel, 
when  thej  abolish  the  outward  Sabbath,  because  of  a  spiritual 
Sabbath  ill  Christ,  if  (through  God's  righteous  judgment  blinding 
their  hearts)  thej  be  also  lell  to  reject  the  outward  word,  because 
of  an  inward  word  to  teach  them ;  and  outward  baptism  and 
Iiord's  supper,  because  of  an  inward  baptism  bj  the  Holy 
Ghoiit,  and  spiritual  bread  from  heaven,  the  Lord  Christ  Jesus ; 
.  and  all  outward  ordinances,  ministries,  churches,  because  of  an 
luward  kingdom  and  temple.  And  the  argument  will  hold 
Btronglj,  that  if  because  they  have  an  inward  Sabbath  of  rest 
in  the  bosom  of  Christ,  (which  I  deny  not,)  that  they  may  there- 
fore cast  away  all  enlernal  Sabbaths,  they  may  then  very  well 
reject  all  outward  baptism.  Lord's  supper,  all  churches,  all  or- 
dinances, because  herein  there  is  also  the  inward  baptism  — 
spiritual  feeding  upon  Christ,  and  inward  kingdom  and  temple 
of  Got!.  But  thus  tlipy  wickedly  separate  and  sever  what  God 
halb  joined  and  may  well  stand  logether,  through  the  madness  of 
which  hellish  practice  I  have  long  observed  almost  all  the  lale 
iind  most  pernicious  errors  of  these  times  arise  ;  and  those  men 
who  have  formerly  wept  for  God's  precious  Sabbaths  and  ordi- 
nances, and  have  prayed  for  them,  and  pleaded  for  them,  and 
have  offered  their  lives  in  sacrifice  for  them,  and  fought  for  them, 
yea,  that  hath  felt  perhaps  the  comfort,  sweetness,  and  blessing 
of  God's  Sabbatlis,  yea,  the  redeeming  and  saving  power  of  God's 
ordinances  to  their  own  souls,  yet  through  pretenses  of  more 
epiritual  enjoyments  above,  and  beyond,  and  without  all  these, 
ihey  can  part  wiih  these  their  old  friends  without  weeping,  and 
reject  them  as  polluted  rags,  and  fleshly  forms,  and  dork  veils  and 
curtains  which  must  be  drawn  aside,  that  so  they  may  nol  hinder 
the  true  light  from  shining  in  them.  ^ 

This,  therefore,  is  the  reason  why  the  love  of  many  at  this 
day  is  grown  cold  toward  the  external  Sabbath,  because  the  in- 
^  temal  and  spiritual  Sabbath  is  now  all  in  all.  And  therefore 
many  men  walk  either  with  bold  consciences,  and  will  observe 
no  Sabbath,  of  eke  with  loose  consciences,  thinking  it  lawful  lo 


I 


ofaeerve  il.  (if  men  will  enjoin  it,)  but  not  thinking  ih&t  they  are 
tied  and  bound  thereunto  from  any  precept  of  God.  That  place 
of  Ueb.  iv.  which  they  bo  oiueU  siit^k  Id,  wanis  not  light  to 
dciDonsirale  iliat  the  SahbatiBm  ihere  may  well  agree  not  only 
with  the  internal,  bul  the  oulward  Chrialian  Sabbath.  But  some 
of  the  ensuing  thc^s  will  serve  to  clear  up  these  things.  This 
only  I  fear,  that  because  of  these  indignities  done  thus  to  God's 
Sabbaths,  even  by  the  underworkings  of  some  of  God's  own  poo- 
pk,  tliat  the  lime  hastens,  wherein  if  no  man  should  speak,  yet 
tlie  right  hand  of  the  sore  displea-iure  of  a  provoked  God,  by 
plagues  and  confusion  upon  ihe  glory  of  all  flesh,  will  plead  for 
bis  own  name,  and  for  that  in  special  which  is  engraven  upon  the 
forehead  of  bis  holy  Sabbaths.  Jerusalem  remembered  wiib 
r^ret  of  heart,  in  the  days  of  her  affliction  and  misery,  all  her 
pleasant  things,  and  especially  this  of  the  Sabbath.  (Lam.  i.  7.) 
If  the  days  of  our  re#l  and  quietness  can  not  make  us  to  relish 
the  good  things  of  his  temple  in  ihe  fruition  of  our  Sabbaihs, 
then  doubt  not  of  iI,  but  that  the  days  of  our  aflliction  shall 
tnalM)  n  remnant  lo  remember  that  they  were  pleasant  thingti. 
Of  ail  Ihe  mercies  of  God  to  Israel,  this  is  reckoned  to  be  one 
of  llie  grcale«l,  that  be  gave  bis  laws  to  Israel,  (Ps.  cxivii.  19, 
SO :)  and  of  all  laws,  ihb  of  the  Sabbath  ;  for  so  the  remnant 
ot  the  capliviiy  acknowledged  il,  (Neli.  ix.  14.)  who  perhaps 
bad  far  lower  thoughts  of  it  before  their  bondage.  And  if  the 
very  making  of  it  known  be  such  a  sweet  mercy,  what  ttien  is 
the  rest  and  peace  of  it,  the  blessing  and  comfort  of  il  ?  for 
which  I  doubt  not  but  many  thousands  are  admiring  God  in 
baa(6n  at  litis  day.  And  shall  u  shady  imagination  of  an  every- 
dtjr  Sabbalfa  make  us  sell  away  fur  nothing  such  a  heavenly  and 
fndom  eeoMin,  and  make  it  common  ?  The  Lord  Jesus  wished 
bu  disciplea  to  pray  llial  their  Hight  from  Jerusalem  might  not 
bo  in  winter,  nor  on  the  Sahbnih  day,  (Matu  xxiv.  20,)  account- 
ing it  a  great  misery  that  his  people  should  lose  the  public  benefit 
(tliraugb  the  disturbance  of  any)  of  one  Subhuth  day;  (fo 
it  Jewish  or  Christian  Sabbath,  1  now  dispute  not 
vm  m  Sal^baih  day,  which  it  set^ms  was  to  conliime  alYer  Chfi»t* 


L 


3r  ho        -  H 


so 


PREFACE. 


ascension  to  the  Father,  and  therefore  not  irhoUj  ceivmonial.) 
And  Bhftll  we  account  it  no  affiietion  or  misery  to  fight  or  fly,  to 
ride  or  go,  to  work  or  plaj,  to  hear  the  word  in  public  or  stay 
at  home  upon  tlie  Sabbath  day  ?  Is  it  no  mercy  in  these  days  to 
enjoy  many  Sabbaths,  which  was  ao  sore  a  misery  in  Christ's 
"  account,  and  in  the  apostles'  days  to  lose  but  one  ?  "  If  man's 
heart  be  lost  in  the  necessary  cumbers  of  the  week,  (upon  the 
Sabbatli,)  the  Lord  is  wont  to  rccaU  it  again  \o  him.  If  any 
fear  that  the  time  of  grace  is  past,  tlie  continuance  of  the  Sab- 
baths (the  special  seasons  of  grace)  confutes  Lim.  If  a  man's 
Bonl  be  wearied  with  daily  griefs  and  outward  troubles,  Ihe 
bosom  of  Jesus  Christ  (which  is  in  special  wise  opened  every 
Lord's  day)  may  refresh  him.  And  shall  we  have  and  profess  so 
little  love  to  such  a  time  (more  precions  than  gold  to  humbled 
hearts)  as  to  cast  away  such  a  rich  portion  of  precious  time,  and 
make  it  common,  under  a  pretense  of  making  every  day  a  Sab- 
bath, which  is  cither  impossible  to  do  or  sinful  ?  The  loudest 
voice  (one  of  thom  of  the  love  of  Christ)  which  now  sounds  in 
the  world  continually  in  the  ears  of  his  people,  is  this :  Come 
into  my  bosom,  ye  weary  sinners,  and  enjoy  your  rest.  And  the 
next  voice  lo  that  is  this  of  the  Sabbalh,  to  call  us  off  from  all 
occasions,  and  then  lo  say  to  us,  Come  to  me,  my  people,  and  rest 
in  my  bosom  of  sweetest  mercy  all  this  day ;  which  call  would 
not  he  a  mercy  if  it  were  every  day  ;  for  then  our  own  occasions 
must  be  neglected,  which  the  wise  and  fatherly  providence  of  God 
forbids,  and  spiritual  work  only  mindecl  and  intended,  which  God 
did  never  command.  Nor  should  any  marvel  that  the  voice  of 
the  law  should  contain  such  a  voice  of  love,  and  therefore  should 
not  think  thai  this  controversy  about  the  law  (or  for  ihb  one  law 
of  the  Sabbalh)  is  unlit  and  unsuitable  lo  these  evangelical  and 
gospel  limes  ;  for  although  ihe  law  is  dreadful  and  full  of  terror 
as  considered  wiiboiit  Christ,  and  is  lo  man  fallen  a  voice  of 
words  and  a  voice  of  terror  and  fear,  which  genders  unto  bond- 
age, yet  as  it  is  revealed  with  reference  to  Christ,  and  n  people 
in  Christ,  so  every  commandment  doth  tpirare  amorem,  (as  he 
Bpeaks,)  and  breathes  out  Christ's  love,  for  which  the  sainls  can 


not  but  blese  the  Lord  with  everloeliDg  wonderment  (hat  e 
he  made  ihem  to  know  these  heart  secreCa  of  bU  good  will  and 
love,  especitLlly  then  when  he  writes  them  in  titeir  beans,  and 
thereby  gives  uoto  them  the  comforl  ihereof.  And  verily  if  it 
be  BDch  a  sweet  voice  of  love  to  call  us  in  to  this  reat  of  the  dny, 
certainly  if  ever  ihe  English  nation  be  deprived  of  these  seasons, 
(which  God  in  men^y  forbid,)  it  will  be  a  black  appearance  of 
God  against  them  in  the  days  of  their  distress,  when  he  i 
■eem  to  shut  them  out  of  his  rest  in  his  bosom  by  depriving  ibem 
of  the  reel  of  this  day.  What  will  ye  do  in  the  solemn  day,  i 
tbo  day  of  ibe  feast  of  the  Ix)rd  ?  For  lo,  they  are  gone  beiause 
of  destruction  i  Egypt  shall  gather  them,  Memphis  shall  bury 
Uiem,  their  silver  slmll  be  dosired,  nettles  shidl  possess  them, 
Ibonu  «hall  be  in  their  tabemaclea ;  ihe  days  of  visitation  £ 
oomc,  the  days  of  recompense  are  come,  Israel  shall  know  itj 
ibe  prophet  is  a  fool,  the  spirilual  man  is  mad,  for  the  multitude 
ot  thine  iniqaity,  and  the  great  hatred.  (IIos.  ix.  5-7.)  But  let 
men  yet  make  much  of  God's  Sabbaths,  and  begin  here  ;  and  if 
it  be  too  tedious  to  draw  near  to  God  every  day,  let  them  but 
make  consciuiice  of  trying  and  tasting  how  good  the  Lord  is  but 
lhi»  one  day  io  a  week,  and  the  Lord  will  yet  reserve  mercy  for 
U*  people,  (Jer.  xvii.  H-26  ;)  for  keep  thb,  keep  all ;  lose  this, 
lose  all ;  wliich  lest  I  should  seem  to  plead  for  out  of  a  frothy 
and  graundlesi  affection  to  the  day,  and  lest  any  in  these  times 
■hould  be  woree  than  the  crane  and  the  swallow,  who  know  their 
times  of  return.  I  have  therefore  endeavored  to  clear  up  those 
Jbur   gr«at  difficulties  about  this  day,  in   the    theses  here  fol- 

].  Concerning  the  morality. 

8.  The  change. 

S.  The  beginning. 

4.  The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath. 

Being  fully  persuaded  that  whosoever  shall  break  one  of  the 
leaat  eammandraents,  and  teach  men  so,  shall  be  called  least  ii 
Uie  kingdom  uf  God.     I  do  therefore  desire  the  reader  t 
kkng  with  lum  these  two  things :  — 


r  to  take  I 


r 


I 


Suappndin^  liLa  judpnent  concerning  Ihe  trulli  and  validilj 

of  any  part  or  of  any  particular  thesis  until  he  Lath  read  o^er  the 
whole  ;  for  Ihey  have  n  dependence  one  upon  another  for  mutual 
clearing  of  one  another ;  and  lest  I  should  iiV  cocliim  apponere, 
Knd  eay  the  eame  thing  twice,  1  have  therefore  purposely  left  out 
that  in  one  part,  and  one  thesis  which  is  to  be  cleared  in  another, 
either  for  proof  of  it,  or  resolution  of  objections  against  it ;  and 
nllhough  litis  dependence  may  not  so  easily  appear,  (because  I 
have  not  so  expressly  eet  down  the  method,)  yet  Ihe  wise- 
hearted,  I  hope,  will  easily  find  it  out,  or  else  pick  out  and  accept 
what  they  see  to  be  of  God,  in  such  a  confused  Iieap ;  for  it  was 
enough  to  my  ends  if  I  might  lay  in  any  broken  pieces  of  limber 
to  fonvard  this  building,  which  those  that  are  able  to  wade  deeper 
controversy  may  please  to  make  use  of  (if  there  be 
any  thing  in  them,  or  in  any  of  them)  in  their  own  better  and 
1  orderly  frame ;  for  it  hath  been,  and  still  is,  my  earnest 
desire  to  heaven,  that  God  would,  raise  up  some  or  other  of  his 
precious  servants  to  clear  up  these  controversies  more  fully  than 
yet  they  have  been,  that  the  zeal  for  God's  Sabbaths  may  not  be 
fire  without  light,  which  perhaps  hath  hitherto  been  too  little, 
through  the  wickedness  of  former  times,  encouraging  the  bvoks 
one  way,  and  suppressing  those  of  most  weight  and  worth  for 
jither. 

2.  To  consider  that  I  do  most  willingly  give  way  to  the  pub- 
I  lishing  of  these  things,  which  I  could  in  many  respects  have 
much  more  readily  committed  to  the  fire  llian  to  the  light ;  when 
I  consider  the  great  abilitiea  of  others  ;  the  need  auch  as  I  am 
have  to  sit  down  and  leam  i  the  hazards  and  knocks  men  get 
only  by  coming  but  into  the  field  in  polemical  matters,  and  the 
tinusefulness  of  any  thing  herein  for  those  in  remote  places, 
where  knowledge  abounds,  and  where  to  cast  any  thing  of  this 
nature  is  to  cast  water  into  the  sea.  I  confess  I  am  ashamed 
therefore  to  be  seen  in  this  garment ;  and  therefore  that  1  have 
(thus  far  yielded,  hath  been  rather  to  please  others  than  myself, 
iwho  have  many  ways  compelled  rae  hereunto.  /The  things  for 
■nbstauce  contained  herein  were  first  preached  in  my  ordinary 


vazfxtin.. 


123 


Course,  upou  the  Sabbath  dnys,  ia  opening  the  commanilmenta. 
The  desires  of  iomu  studenu  in  (he  i-'ollegc,  and  the  need  I  saw 
of  resolving  some  doubtn  arising  about  these  ihingd  in  the  hearts 
of  foine  ordinary  hearers  among  the  people,  oceasiuned  a  more 
large  discussing  of  the  conirovewy  ;  to  wliich  I  was  tlie  tnorc  in- 
clined, b«(^niiee  one  among  u.'<  (who  ivunted  not  abilities)  was 
taken  awaj  from  us,  who  hud  promised  the  clearing  up  of  all 
these  Diatteri.  When  therefore  these  things  were  more  plainly 
and  fully  opened  and  applied  lo  the  coneciences  of  some  more 
popular  capacities  as  well  as  others,  I  was  then  put  upon  it  to 
reduce  the  doctrinal  part  of  these  sermons  upon  the  fourth  com- 
maodmenl  into  certain  theses,  for  the  use  of  some  students  de- 
sirous thereof;  when  being  scattered,  and  coming  lo  the  view  of 
wme  of  the  elders  in  ihe  country,  I  was  by  some  of  (hem  desired 
lo  take  off  some  obscurity  arising  from  Ihe  brevity  and  littleness 
of  ihem,  by  greater  enlargements,  and  a  few  more  explicationa 
cf  them  ;  which  promising  lo  do,  and  ihen  coming  lo  the  hearing 
oT  many,  I  was  then  desired  by  all  the  elders  in  the  country, 
ihen  met  together,  lo  commit  them  to  public  view  ;  which  hitherto 
my  hettrt  bath  opposed,  and  therefore  should  still  have  smothered 
(hem,  but  that  some  have  so  far  com[)elled  me,  as  that  I  feared  I  I 
abonld  insist  and  fight  against  God  in  not  listening  to  them ;  in  | 
which  many  things  are  left  out,  which  perhaps  might  be  more 
ineful  lo  a  plain  people,  which  then,  in  the  application  of  matters 
of  doctrine,  were  publicly  delivered  ;  and  some  few  things  are 
kiUoJ,  especial  m  that  particular,  wherein  the  directive  power 
of  lli«  moral  law  is  cleared  against  the  loose  wits  of  these  limes. 
We  are  strangers  hero  (for  the  most  part)  lo  the  books  an3 
vriiiog*  which  are  now  in  Europe  ;  but  it  is  much  feared  that  tb^ 
inovastt  and  growth  of  the  many  tares  and  erroj^in  England 
have  been  by  reason  of  the  sleepiness  of  some  of  the  honest  hus- 
batidtnen ;  and  lliat  those  who  are  best  able  to  pluck  them  up 
hsn  nM  veasonably  stood  in  the  gap,  and  kept  them  out  by  a 
MmIobb  convicilug  and  public  bearing  witness  against  them  bj 
wofd  and  writing ;  and  tliat,  therefore,  such  as  have  with  tooj 
mpllanco  tolerated  errors,  error  will  OM 


1 


i 


b  Icnderness  and  c 


I 


24 


day  grow  up  to  tliat  head  that  it  will  not  tolerate  or  suffer  tbem 
to  sp«fik  Iniih.  We  have  a  proverb  here,  that  "  the  devil  is  not 
»o  soon  risen  but  Christ  is  up  before  him ; "  and  if  any  of  his 
precious  aervanla  have  slept  and  lain  longer  abed  than  their 
Master  hath  done,  and  have  not  spoken  or  printed  soon  enough 
for  Jesus  Christ  in  other  matters,  yet  O  that  in  this  matter  of 
the  Sabbath  God  would  betimes  awaken,  and  that  lliese  weak- 
nesses might  stir  up  their  strength  ;  for  I  much  fear  and  foresee 
that  if  it  be  not  done,  there  is  an  hour  and  a  nick  of  templation 
in  such  a  juncture  of  times  approaching,  wherein  the  enemy  will 
come  in  like  a  flood,  and  rise  up  from  all  quarters  against  the 
doctrine  of  the  Sabbath,  and  then  farewell  all  the  good  days  of 
the  Son  of  man,  if  this  be  lost,  which  then  men  shall  desire  to 
Bee,  and  shall  not  see  them,  I  have  therefore  been  the  more 
wilting  to  let  my  own  shame  and  weakness  appear  to  the  world, 
(if  so  it  be  found,)  if  this  might  be  any  means  of  doing  the  least 
good  for  keeping  up  the  price  of  God's  Sabbalhs  in  the  hearts 
of  any,  I  have  therefore  spent  the  more  lime  about  the  morality 
of  the  Sabbalh,  because  the  clearing  op  of  this  gives  light  to  all 
the  rest. 


THE 


MORALITY  OF  THE  SABBATH 


Tkent  1.  Tm  is  one  of  the  most  precious  blessings  which 
worthless  man  in  this  world  enjoys;  a  jewel  of  inestimable 
worth ;  a  golden  stream,  dissolving,  and,  as  it  were,  continually 
mnning  down  bj  us,  out  of  one  etemitj  into  another,  yet  seldom 
taken  notice  of  until  it  is  quite  passed  away  from  us.  Man  (saith 
Solomon)  knows  not  his  time.  (Eccl.  ix.  12.)  It  is,  therefore, 
most  just  and  meet  that  He  who  hatli  the  disposing  of  all  other 
things  less  precious  and  momentous  should  abo  be  the  supreme 
Lord  and  Disposer  of  all  our  times. 

Tresis  2.  He  who  is  the  Disposer  of  all  our  times  is  the 
sovereign  Lord  of  our  persons  also,  ajid  is  therefore  the  utmost 
and  last  end  of  both ;  for  if  our  persons  and  all  our  times  be  of 
him,  they  are  then  to  be  improved  for  him,  as  he  sees  most  meet. 

T%e$it  3.  Now,  although  all  creatures  in  the  world  are  of 
God,  and  for  God,  so  that,  being  of  him,  they  receive  their  being 
from  him  as  their  first  efllcient,  and  being  for  him,  are  therefore 
preserved  and  governed  by  him  as  their  utmost  end;  yet  no  other 
inferior  visible  creature  is  set  so  near  to  Grod,  and  consequently 
is  not  in  that  manner  for  God,  as  man  is. 

Tresis  4.  For  although  all  inferior  creatures  are  made  lastly 
for  Grod,  yet  they  are  made  nextly  for  man ;  but  man,  having 
nothing  better  than  himself,  between  hiin  and  Qod,  is  therefore 
made  both  lastly  and  nextly  for  Grod ;  and  hence  it  is  that  no  in- 
ferior creature,  which  coines  out  and  issueth  from  Grod,  hath  such 
a  reflux  and  return  again  back  unto  Grod,  as  man  hath ;  because, 
in  and  by  this  reflux  and  return  into  him,  man's  immortal  being 
is  eternally  preserved,  like  water  running  into  the  sea  again, 
from  whence  it  first  came. 

nesis  5.     For  whatever  is  set  next,  and,  as  it  were,  contig- 
uous to  eternal,  is  eternal :   Omne  contiguum  atemo  tpirituali  est 
mUmumj  (say  some,)  and  hence  it  is  that  the  soul  is  eternal^ 
TOL.  ni.  3  25 


2G 


TOE  UOKALITT   OF   THE   SAUBATH. 


[ 


ixlly  made, 
IS  It  were,  in  a  straiglit 
□  of  vrkich  slraight  line 
in,  tliey  ihen 


.xtly 


because  it  is  made  ncxtly  for  Gotl,  anil  as  it  were  contiguous  to 
him.  The  body  also  shall  be  eternal,  because  contiguous  lo  the 
eternal  souL  Bui  no  oilier  inferior  creatures  are  thus  eternal ; 
for  allhongh  they  be  made  nexlly  for  man,  yet  so  as  ihat  they 
are  firstly  tor  the  body,  which  is  of  itself  mortal,  and  not  eternal, 
and  thei-efore,  not  being  contiguous  lo  that  which  is  spiritually 
eternal,  are  not  so  themselres  ;  and  the  reason  of  this  is,  because 
all  inferior  creatures,  as  they  come  out  from  God,  so  their 
motion  is  toward  man,  for  whom  they 
they  go  out  straightforward  from  God, 
lino  toward  man,  to  the  last  end  and  tei 
when  they  are  come,  in  the  service  oi 

proceed  any  farther,  and  do  therefore  perish  and  cease  to  be, 
without  reflecting,  or  returning  back  again  immediately  unto 
Cod.  But  man,  being  made  immediately  and  nextiy  for  God, 
halh  therefore  his  motion  so  toward  God  as  that  he  returns  im- 
mediately unto  him  again,  and  is  not  ted  in  a  straight  line,  but 
led  (as  it  were)  about  in  a  circular  motion,  and  hence  returninf; 
immediately  lo  him,  he  is  hereby  eternally  preserved  in 
for  whom  he  is  immediately  made,  and  unto  whom  he  is  r 
contiguous,  as  hath  been  said. 

TSem  6.  Now,  although,  in  this  return  of  man  to  God,  (sup- 
posing it  to  be  iniemal,  regular,  and  spiritual,)  man's  blessed 
being  once  lost  is  hereby  recovered  and  preserved  in  God,  yet 
when  man  is  left  unto  himself,  the  motions  of  his  soul  out  of  this 
circle,  in  straying  from  God,  are  innumerable,  and  would  be  end- 
less, if  God,  who  set  him  next  unto  himself,  did  not  some  time 
or  other  recall,  return,  and  lead  him  back  agtun  (as  it  were  in  a 
lieavenly  circle)  into  himself. 

TTieiii  7.  Look,  therefore,  as  when  man  hath  run  his  race, 
finished  his  course,  and  passed  through  the  bigger  and  larger 
circle  of  his  life,  he  then  returns  unio  his  eternal  rest,  so  it  is 
contrived  and  ordered  by  divine  wisdom,  as  that  he  shall  in  a 
special  manner  return  unto  and  into  his  rest  once  at  least  within 
the  lesser  and  smaller  circle  of  every  week,  that  so  his  perfect 
blessedness  to  come  might  be  foretasted  every  Sabbath  day,  and 
BO  be  begun  here  ;  that  look,  as  man  elanding  in  innocency  bad 
cause  thus  to  return  from  the  pleiisant  labors  of  his  weekly 
paradise  employments,  (as  shall  lie  shown  in  due  place,)  so  man 
fallen  much  more  from  his  toilsome  and  wearisome  labors,  lo 
this  his  rest  again.  And  therefore,  as  because  ail  creatures  were 
made  for  man,  man  was  therefore  made  in  the  last  place  after 
tbem  ;  so  man  being  made  for  God  and  his  worship,  thence  it  {■ 
that  the  Sabbath   (wherein  oi^n  waa  to  dr: 


i 


THE   MORALITT  OP  1 


27 


God)  was  appointed  aller  lli«^  creation  of  man,  as  Peter  Martyr  " 
ribnervea,  tor  although  man  is  not  made  fur  tlie  .Sabbath  merely 
in  respect  of  the  outward  reat  of  it,  ad  the  PhHrisees  dreamed, 
yet  he  ia  made  for  the  Sabbath  in  respect  of  God  in  it,  and  the 
hulinesd  of  it,  to  both  which,  then,  the  soul  is  to  have  its  weekly 
rcvoliilion  back  again,  as  into  that  rest  which  is  the  eod  of  all 
our  lives,  labor,  and  in  e|>eciBl  of  all  our  weekly  labor  and  work. 
77iait  8.  As,  therefore,  our  blessed  rest  in  the  fruition  of 
Gu(i  at  the  end  and  period  of  our  Lves  ia  no  ceremony,  but  a 
glorious  privilege  and  a  moral  duty,  it  being  onr  closing  with 
our  utmost  end  to  which  we  are  called,  so  it  can  not  be  tliat  such 
a  law  which  calls  and  commands  man  in  this  life  to  return  to 
the  some  rest  for  ttubstonce  every  Sabbath  day,  should  be  a  cer- 
emonial, but  rather  a  moral  and  perpetual  law ;  unless  it  should 
appear  that  this  weekly  Sabbath,  like  the  other  annual  Sabbath, 
hath  been  ordained  and  instituted  principally  for  some  ceremo- 
Diona  ends,  rather  than  lo  lie  a  pan,  and  indeed  the  beginning 
ofoorre^t  to  come;  there  being  little  difference  between  this 
1  tlut  to  eome,  but  only  this,  tliat  here  our  rest  is  but  begun, 
Ihere  it  is  perfected  ;  here  it  is  interrupted  by  our  weekly  labors, 
there  it  is  continued  ;  here  we  are  led  into  our  rest  by  means  and 
Ordhtances.  but  there  wo  shall  be  possessed  with  it  without  our 
nrtd  of  any  help  from  them ;  our  God,  who  is  our  real,  being 
'    then  become  unto  us  immediately  all  in  all. 

7%ettt  9.  Were  it  not  for  roan's  work  and  labor  ordained 
ad  appointed  for  him  in  this  life,  he  should  enjoy  a  continual 
BablMtlh.  a  perpetual  rest.  And  therefore  we  see  that  when 
BUUi'*  life  is  ended,  his  sun  set,  and  his  work  done  upon  earth. 
nothing  else  remains  for  him  but  only  to  enter  into  his  perpetual 
and  eternal  rest.  All  our  time  should  be  solemn  and  sacred  to 
I  the  Lioni  of  time,  if  there  were  no  common  work  and  labor 
J  bcre,  which  necessarily  occasions  common  time ;  why,  then, 
abouU  any  think  that  a  weekly  Sahbalb  is  ceremonial,  when, 
were  it  not  for  this  life's  labor,  a  perpetual  and  continual  Sab- 
bath wonld  then  be  undoubtedly  "accounted  moral.  It  is  hard 
for  any  to  think  a  servant's  awful  allendance  of  his  Lord  and 
Matter  at  certain  special  times  not  lo  be  morally  due  from  him, 
who,  bat  for  some  more  private  and  personal  pccasions  allowed 
him  to  attend  unto,  should  at  all  times  conlinually  be  serving 

*  Tm  hk  onlinvm  coniidera.  aija  cnwuiur  pmplcr  liomineai,  idco  po't  ilia 
eeadilBr  hano.  Homo  vcio  od  l>ei  i-olturu  idea  BUtim  pobi  illiiu  crumiloa 
■■  Sobbotbi  Iwoediciio  tt  laociificatio  iaducitor,  —  Pti.  Mart,  in  Pnae.  4  m. 


I 
I 


28  THE   MORALITY   OP  THE 

Hiexii  10.  The  word  ia  iyijittfor,  and  no  Scripture  phraae, 
and  llieretbre  not  proper  fillj  and  fully  to  express  the  question 
in  conlroverey,  to  wit,  whether  llie  fourth  commatidraent  be  & 
moral  precept.  The  best  friends  of  this  word  find  it  slippery, 
and  can  hardlj  tell  what  it  is,  and  what  they  would  hare  to  be 
understood  by  it.  and  hence  it  is  become  a  bone  of  much  conten- 
tion, a  fit  mist,  aiid  swamp  for  bucIi  to  fight  in,  who  deiiire  so  to 
contend  with  their  adverBariea  as  that  ihemaetvea  may  not  be 
Lknown,  either  where  they  are  or  on  what  ground  they  stand. 
Tet  it  being  a  word  generally  taken  up  and  comnioiily  used,  it 
may  not  therefore  be  amiss  to  follow  the  market  meanure,  and  to 
retain  the  word  with  just  and  meet  explications  thereof. 

TlienM  11.  They  who  describe  a  moral  law  to  be  such  a  law 
as  is  not  typically  ceremonial,  and  therefore  not  durable,  do  well 
and  truly  espreas  what  it  is  not,  but  they  do  not  positively  ex- 
preM  what  it  is. 

Tliesii  12.  Some  describe  and  draw  out  the  proportions  of 
the  moral  law  by  the  law  of  nature,  and  so  make  it  to  be  that 
law  which  every  man  h  taught  by  the  light  of  nature.  "  That 
which  is  morally  and  universally  just,  (say  some,)  which  reason, 
when  it  is  not  misled,  and  the  inward  law  of  nature  dictaleth,  by 
common  principles  of  honesty,  or  ought  to  dictate  unto  all  men 
without  any  outward  usher.  It  is  that  (say  others)  which  may 
be  proved  not  only  just,  hut  necessary,  by  principles  drawn  from 
the  light  of  nature,  which  all  reasonable  men,  even  in  nature  cor- 
rupted, have  still  in  their  hearts,  which  either  they  do  acknowl- 
e<^,  or  may  at  least  be  convinced  of  without  the  Scriptures,  by 
principles  stJU  lull  in  ihe  hearts  of  all  men."  But  this  descrip- 
tion seems  loo  narrow;  tor,  1.  Although  it  bo  true  that  the  law 
natural  is  part  of  tlie  law  moral,  yet  if  the  law  moral  be  resolved 
into  the  law  of  nature  only,  and  the  law  of  nature  be  shrunk  up 
and  drawn  into  so  narrow  a  compass  as  what  the  principles  left 
in  corrupt  man  only  suggest  and  dictate,  then  it  will  necessarily 
follow,  that  many  of  those  holy  rules  and  principles  are  not  the 
law  of  nature,  which  were  the  most  perfect  impressions  of  the 
law  of  nature  in  man's  first  creation  and  perfeciiou.  but  now,  by 
man's  apostasy,  are  obliterated  and  blotted  out;  unless  any  shall 
think  worse  than  the  blind  Papists,  either  that  man's  mind  is  not 
now  corrupted  by  the  fait,  in  losing  any  of  the  first  impressions 
of  innouenl  nature,  or  shall  maintain,  with  them,  that  the  image 
of  God  (of  which  those  fii'st  impressions  were  a  pari)  was  not 
natural  to  man  in  that  estate.  2.  It  will  then  follow  that  there 
ia  no  moral  discipline,  (as  they  call  it,)  that  is,  nothing  moral 
discipline   informing,  or  positively  moral,   but  only  by 


U  there        ^ 
loral  by       ^M 

M 


29 

du-taling,  wbieb  is  cross  not  only  lo  the  judgments,  but  Bolid  arKu- 
nent?,  of  men  judicious  and  most  indiffcreiil.  3.  If  Ibat  only  ie  • 
to  be  accountcil  raoral  which  ia  bo  eit&ilj  known  of  b)1  men,  by 
die  light  of  naiure  corrupted,  then  the  imperfect  light  of  man's 
corrupt  mind  must  be  the  principal  judge  of  that  which  is  moral,  . 
nlher  than  the  perfect  rule  of  mornlily  contnined  in  the  Scrip-  , 
tnr«,  which  aa^riion  would  not  a  little  advance  corrupt  anil  blind  ' 
tulure,  and  dethrone  ihe  perfection  of  the  Holy  Scripture, 

7H«ii  13.  They  who  define  a  moral  law  lo  be  such  a  law 
AS  is  |ierpetual  and  universal,  binding  all  persons  in  all  ages  and 
times,  do  come  somewhat  nearer  to  the  mark,  nud  arc  not  far  o(F 
from  the  truth,  and  guch  a  description  is  moat  plain  and  obviouB 
to  «uch  ta  are  not  curious ;  and  in  this  sense  our  adversaries  in 
ihb  cause  affirm  the  Sabbath  not  to  be  raoral,  meaning  ibat  it 
n  not  a  law  perjielual  and  universal.  Others,  on  the  coutrary,  ' 
affirming  that  it  is  moral,  intend  thus  much  —  that  it  is  perpetual 
ind  universal,  a  law  which  hinds  all  persons,  all  times,  and  in  all 
■gei ;  and  herein  lies  the  chief  matter  of  controversy  at  this  day. 
Kow  in  what  re.<pect  and  how  far  tbnh  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  ' 
is  perpetual,  ^hall  be  hereafter  shown ;  meanwhile  it  may  not  be 
HnLiB  U>  inquire  more  narrowly  into  the  nature  of  a  moral  law. 
For  (bough  a  kwprim^|ilj.5iffl2lisp5ri;glj)al,  yet  perpetuity 
Mems  to  be  an  adjunct~nilEer  than  ortneessence  of  a  moral  law, 
■nd  ibe  difficulty  will  still  remain  nntoucbed,  viz.,  to  know  when 
ft  law  ia  perpetual,  and  nhat  is  internal  and  Intrinsioal  to  such  a 
law  as  makes  it  perpetual,  or  moral ;  whcreinlo  I  would  not 
•CATch,  lest  I  should  seem  to  afiecl  curiosity,  but  that  our  critical 
■drersaries  put  us  u{)on  it,  with  whom  there  is  nothing  lost  in 
W«  we  gnin  nothing  by  wrestling  a  little  with  them  upon  their 
own  grounds,  where  for  a  while  we  sliall  come  up  lo  them. 

Thtii$  14.  A  divine  law  may  be  said  to  he  moral  two  ways. 
1.  More  largely  and  generally  moral.  2.  More  strictly  and 
^keciall  j  moral. 

Thftii  15.  A  law  generally  moral  is  this  —  that  the  whole 
uneniga  will  of  the  Lord  be  done  and  submitted  unto  by  every 
«r«alur«i  and  in  this  large  sense,  every  law  of  God.  whelhor 
ceremonial,  judicial,  or  for  special  trial,  may  be  said  to  be  moral, 
beeoiue  ihc  sovereign  will  of  God  is  in  all  these  laws  to  bo 
adund.  It  is  a  raoral  duty  that  God's  will  be  done  ;  and  hence 
k  b  that  so  far  forth  as  the  will  of  God  is  in  ibeiii,  so  far  forth  io 
yield  obedience  to  them  is  a  moral  duty ;  but  the  question  is  not 
alxMI  Ihi*  morality,  nor  what  things  are  thus  moral. 

1%nu  Iti.  A  law  more  strictly  and  specially  moral,  which 
ODBeenu  the  manners  of  all  meu,  uod  of  which  we  now  speak, 


P  30  TB 


MORAI.ITT   OF  THE  SAIIDATH. 


I 


Lmay  be  thus  dcBcrilicd ;  viz.,  it  ia  such  a  law,  whiuh  h  therefore 
commanded,  bccauGc  it  is  good,  and  ia  not  therefore  good  merely 
■■  TTietii  iT.  Thifi  is  Austin's  desfjipliun  of  it  long  Einc«,  whom 
most  of  the  schoolmen  follow ;  which  learned  Cameron,  with 
sundry  laie  writers,  confinns,  and  which  our  adversaries  in  Ihia 
conlroveray  plead  hard  for,  and  unto  which  the  evidence  of  Scrip- 
ture and  reason  seems  to  incline ;  for  laws  mt;rely  judicial  and 
I  ceremonial  are  good  laws,  (Deut.  vi,  18-.  24;)  but  this  was  merely 
[  beeauae  they  were  commanded,  and  therefore  it  had  been  simply 
evil  to  burn  incense,  oETcr  sacriliuc,  or  perform  any  ceremonial 
duty  in  the  worship  of  God,  untt*G9  tliey  had  been  commanded. 
What  is  there  therefore  in  moral  laws  which  is  not  in  those  laws  ? 
>  Verily,  this  inward  goodness  in  ihem  which  others  have  not,  and 
because  of  which  goodness  tliey  are  therefore  commanded ;  for 
to  love  God,  lo  honor  parents,  to  preserve  the  life  of  man,  to  be 
'  merciful,  and  bountiful,  and  just  in  all  our  dealings,  etc,  are  in- 
wardly good,  and  are  ihei'etbre  commanded,  and  are  therefore 
moral  laws ;  and  hence  we  see  that  when  Uie  a|>ostle  would  set 
forth  the  glory  and  excellency  of  the  moral  law,  (for  of  do  other 
law  can  he  speak,  Kom.  vii.  7, 1^,)  he  gives  these  titles  to  it  —  that 
it  is  holy,  juai,  and  good;  wliicli  holiness,  justice,  and  goodness 
he  opposeth  to  his  own  moriil  (not  ceremonial)  wickedness.  I 
fim  carnal,  (saith  'he,)  but  the  law  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  And 
look,  as  it  was  evil  in  itself  for  lo  have  a  nature  contrary  to  the 
law,  so  the  law  which  was  contrary  to  that  nature  was  good  in 
itself,  and  was  therefore  commanded  ;  and  therefore  in  this  thing 
moral  laws  are  in  a  higher  degree  good  than  such  as  were  only 
ceremonial,  which  were  therefore  good  merely  because  com- 
manded. The  prophet  Micnli  therefore  perceiving  how  forward 
many  were  in  ceremonial  duties  and  sacrifices,  in  opposition 
beruunio,  he  lells  them,  "  The  Lonl  hath  showed  thee,  O  man, 
what  is  good,"  (speaking  of  inoi-al  duties,  of  showing  mercy,  and 
walking  humbly  with  God,  Micah  vi.  8.)  Were  not  sacrifice  and 
offerings  good,  as  well  as  mercy  and  walking  humbly  ?  Yes, 
verily  ;  but  herein  lies  the  ditl'erence,  (ns  our  most  orihudox  gca- 
erally  make  it,)  sacrifice  and  offerings  were  not  per  le  and  in 
themselves  good,  but  only  as  commanded  for  higher  ends,  and  to 
further  moral  obedience,  (Jer.  vii.  22,  23,  and  vi.  I'J,  20.  Is.  i: 
14,  IG.  Ps.  1.  13-lJJ;)  hut  such  mural  obedience  as  the 
prophet  mentions,  viz.,  to  show  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly,  were 
good  in  thi.-mse)vefi,  and  were  therefore  commaiideil  of  God,  aniT 
here  called  by  the  prophet  good.  The  sum  of  moral  obedience  ii 
lore  to  God  and  man.  (Matt,  xxii.)     But  what  love  ie  this?  j 


THE   UOSALITY   OF   THE   SABBATH. 


I  tLeinsi.-lve9  lovely,  and  c 


» Surely  it  is  in  *ucU  things 
■equentlj-  in  themselves  good ;  lor  otherwise  oerenionial  obedience 
>hoaM  be  A  part  of  moral  obedience,  beeaiise  in  performing  such 
obedience  as  is  merely  ceremonial,  we  show  our  love  to  God  also, 
it  being  n  branch  of  love  to  Lave  respect  unto  all  God's  cotH' 
mandmenli.  (Dent.  vi.  1—3,  with  v.  G.)     Ouly  herein  our  love 
.  towttnl  God  appears  io  ceremonial  duties,  because  theae  laws  are 
P  Mmmanded ;  our  love  appears  in  the  other,  because  the  things    ^ 
I  flOcnmaDded  are  also  lovely  in  themselves.     The  image  of  GodiaV 
'  n  itself.  Bs  God  hiuuelf  is  good  in  himself.    Now,  the  moral  I 
n  exact  rule  of  nothing  else  but  God's  itni^c,  as  is  evident,  ' 
fy>  Si,  where  the  image  of  God  is  made  io  ponsist  in  holj- 
""  "  _^J  (,  the  lirat  table  being  the  rule  of  tlie  one, 

d  taUe  beiug  the  rule  of  the  other ;  and  hence  it  follows 
l<'aDd«ntably,  that  moral  laws,  respecting  only  God's  image,  have 
L'Xnpcel  oiOy  to  such  thiugs  as  are  good  in  themselres,  and  wheru- 
kin  w«  resemble  and  are  made  like  unto  ijod.     Some  things  (sailb 
TCuaeruu)  are  good  in  ihemselvea,  viz.,  such  things  wherein  God's 
Itauge  ahines  forth,  as  ho  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  (Col.  iii.  10. 
Kph>  \v.  24.)     Some  things  are  indlfierent,  neither  good  nor  bad 
'     '      iwlvtrs,  but  merely  as  commanded  or  forbidden,  Which  also 
it  God'a  image,  unless  it  be  tub  ratione  rnih,  hut  not  tnh 
toralU  ;  i.e.,  they  resemble  God  as  he  is  a  being,  but 
t  Is  holy,  just,  and  good  in  himself,  the  rule  of  which 
Dce  is  the  uoral  law,  which  therefore  commands  thin^ 

■  ^hpv  arf!  gnm^.  S.  _^ 

'ITittit  18.     God,  out  of  his  absolute  sovereignty,  could  have 

Budo  laws  biuiting  nil  (icrMins  in  alt  ages,  (and  in  this  respeet 

moral,)  without  having  any  more  goodness  in  them  than  mei-ely 

|_U*own  will;  but  it  is  hia  will  and  good  pleasure  to  make  all  laws 

e  moral  Io  be  fir«l  good  in  themselves  for  all  men,  before  j 
Cfce  will  impose  liicm  npun  all  men.     And  hence  it  is  a  weaknessj 
Efcr  any  la  affirm,  that  a  moral  law  is  not  such  a  law  which  is 
^■ben-fare  commanded  because  it  is  good,  because  (say  they)  it  is 
■JWt  the  goodocM  of  the  thing,  but  the  sovereign  will  of  God, 
f irliich  makes  nil  things  good ;  for  it  is  the  sovereign  will  of  Goil 
1  proved)  to  make  every  moral  law  good,  and  therefore  to  I 
ind  it,  ralher  than  to  make  it  good  by  a  mere  command- 
foTiL 
Tkttit  19.     The  will  of  God  is  indeed  ilie  rule  of  all  good- 
>,  and  conM'iiuetitly  of  All  moral  laws  j  but  we  know  there  ifl 
roAM  tUereCi  and  volanliu  numdati,  the  first  of  which  is,  viz., 
D  wQl  of  Gud's  decree,  (as  it  appears  in  the  execution  of  it,) 
a  m  tiling  to  be  ({ood,  whether  it  be   creature  or  law;  (he 


1 
I 
I 


I 


formable  u 


second  ol'  these,  viz.,  tLe  will  of  Gad's  comnmnd,  enjoins  the 
practice  of  such  a  iliitj,  the  rule  and  law  to  guide  which  is  first 
made  good  (if  il  be  a  moral  law)  bj  Ibe  wisdom  and  power  o 
the  will  of  God's  decree ;  bo  that  the  will  of  Giod  appearing  in 
both  these  (viz.,  Grod's  decreeing  and  commanding  will)  is  the 
complete  rule  of  every  moral  law  ;  so  that  as  no  law  is  morallj' 
good  merely  because  it  is  comroanded,  so  neither  is  it  thus  good 
rWless  also  it  bo  commanded.  God's  will  in  all  moral  laws  is 
■  KtM  to  maiie  Ihem  good,  and  then  to  command  them,  when 
they  nt-e  thus  far  made  good  ;  both  which  together  make  up  a 
[moral  lawi^ 

TRem  20.  Il  is  true  that  sin  13  fe^transgression^jSod'a  law. 
There  is  noiliing,  thererorc^sinfiil  biitit  is  ilie'  ffsiTsgression  of 
ind  hence  there  is  no  obedience  good  but  what  is  con- 
to  some  law.  But  we  must  know  that  as  transgres- 
Bion  01  auy  law  doth  not  nxake  a  tlung  morally  sinful,  (for  then 
la  break  a  ceremonial  law  would  be  a  moral  siii,)  so  also  obedi- 
ence to  every  law  doth  not  make  a  duly  morally  lawful  and 
good,  (for  then  obedience  to  a  ceremonial  law  must  be  a  moral 
obedience.)  Moral  transgression,  therefore,  is  a  breach  of  such 
a  law  which  forbids  a  thing  because  it  is  evil,  as  moral  obedi- 
cQfe  is  our  conformity  to  such  a  law  which  -commands  a  thing 
'  txjcuuse  it  is  good  J  nut  that  any  thing  is  morally  evil  in  itself  be- 
fore it  be  forbidden,  for  then  there  should  be  a  moral  sin  before,  and 
without  any  law  to  forbid  it,  which  ia  most  absurd;  but  because 
a  thing  is  evil  in  itaelt,  and  is  therefore  forbidden,  it  is  there- 
fore morally  evil,  God  may  and  doth  make  it  fundamentally 
-evil  before  it  be  forbidden,  but  it  is  not  morally  evil  until  il  be 
forbidden./  The  like  may  be  said  concerning  moral  obedience 
according  to  any  moral  law.  No  man  should  tiierefore  think  that 
this  description  given  of  a  moral  law  should  give  occasion  to  any  to 
imagine  that  some  things  are  morally  good  or  evil,  before  any 
law  pass  upon  tliem,  and  that  therefore  there  are  some  duties, 
and  some  sins,  which  are  so  without,  and  belbre,  any  law  of  God. 
For  we  see  that  things  good  in  ihemselves  must  be  commanded, 
else  they  are  not  moral  duties ;  yet  witlial  they  are  therefore  com- 
manded, because  they  are  good  in  themselves.  It  is  true  tliul, 
by  the  verdict  of  some  of  ilie  schoolmen,  some  duties  are  iiiur- 
ally  good  before  any  law  commands  them,  (as  to  love  and  mag- 
nify God,)  and  that  some  sins  (as  to  curse  and  blimphetne 
God)  are  moFally  evil,  before  any  law  forbids  them  ;  but  (10 
omit  other  answers)  if  such  sipppositious  may  be  rationally  made, 
.  (which  some  deny,)  yet  ii  may  bo  upon  good  grounds  denied  that 
any  duty  can  be  mondly  good,  or  any  sin  morally  ovil,  until 


TBB  MOKALlXr   OF   THR   SA&BATII.  S3 

■lui*  piui  apon  them  either  to  comnianil  or  forbid  ihe  same.     It 

\it  luilocil  suitable  and  meet  in  nnlure  for  man  to  love  God,  and 

Bsuiiable  and  unmeet  to  bladpbeme  and  hute  God ;  but  suelk 

nitablenees  or  UDSuilableiieiis,  as  lliey  make  things  fundament- 

dljr  good  or  evil,  so  tbey  CAa  not  make  any  thing  morally  good 

ir  evil,    nnlesa  we  suppose    »om«  law ;    for  it   would  be,   ia 

Vlhlii  (^ase,  with  man  as  it  is  in  brute  creatures,  who  do  man^ 

Vlliinga  unnatural,  (as  to  eat  up  and  destroy  their  own  young.)  . 

which  yet  are  not  morally  sinful,  beuiuse  they  are  not  under  any  * 

r  BwnJ  law  ;  and  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  best  of  the  schoolmen, 

I  Ibough  he  thinks  that  the  obserrance   of  the  Sabbath   before 

I  Moms'  time  was  not  ieeundiim  ra/ionem  prtecepti,  or  rlebite  jieri,- 

I  i.e.,  was  not  actually  commanded,  yet  that  it  was  lecundam  ratio- 

I  iMm  htmetti,  hoe  ett  dignejitri  ;  ■'.  e.,  it  was  congnioue,  and  a  thing 

eet  and  wonhy  to  be  observed,  even  from  the  first  creation.    But 

I  vUl  wfiV  of  our  adversaries  hence  say,  that  because  it  was  meet 

^^Mid  worthy  to  be  observed,  that  therefore  it  was  a  moral  law  from 

ktte  bcgiantng  of  the  world,  while  it  had  uo  command  (as  is 

1W  them  supposed)  to  be  observed?     For   it  must  be   Bome- 

I  ttitig  meet  &ud  congruous,  and  worthy  to  be  observed  of  man, 

I  which,  when  it  is  commanded,  makes  it  to  be  a  moral  law ;  for 

I  then  the  law  commands  a  tiling  that  is  good,  and  because  it  ia 

k  Mod  it  is  therefore  commanded  ;  which  goodness  we  must  a-lit- 

I  Ue  more  nanowly  now  iuquire  into. 

TWm  21.  If  it  be  demanded  therefore.  What  is  that  good- 
k.Ml  tt  moral  law  for  which  it  b  therefore  commanded?  the 
R  is  gi\*en  by  Vosques,  Suarez,  Smisingn,  and  most  of 
KilmEOj  and  sundry  of  oar  own  writers,  that  it  is  nothing 
t  Ihal  ramely  suitableness  and  meelness  in  the  thing 
Uided  unto  human  outure  as  rational,  or  unto  man  as  ra- 
KitiooBl,  and  consequently  unto  every  man.  When  I  say  as  rational, 
f  I  nndcrstand  as  Master  Irotisidc  doth,  viz.,  a&right  reason,  nci- 
t  blinded  nor  corrupted,  doth  require.  When  I  say  as  suit- 
I,  and  consequently  to  every  man,  I  hereby  exclude  . 
1  aerely judicial  and  evangelical  from  being  moral:  the 
'"*  *  '  e  guiiAblc  to  some  men  only  ;  the  other  are  not 
men  as  men,  but  to  man  as  corrupt  and  fallen, 
i  tberafore  bind  not  all  men,  but  only  those  among  whom 
vfliey  are  sulficiently  and  actually  promulgated,  as  is  evideni. 
f  (ttoia.  X.  14.  John  xv.  22.)  But  moral  laws  are  suitable  to  all 
fclBcn,  and  have  an  inward  meelness  and  congruiiy  to  bo  observed 
{•f  all  men.  For  look,  as  when  the  Lord  gives  laws  to  any  par- 
r-halion,  whether  immediately  by  himself,  or  mediately  by 
I,  h*  ever  makes  them  suitable  to  the  people's  peace  and  good 


4 

I 


I 


k 


of  tliat  natiou  ;  bo  when  he  makes  laws  binding  all  mankmd  in 

s,  he  makes  them  auilahle  lo  hut 
kind  therein.  And  look,  as  Dnlional  lawa  binii  not  merclj  by  ths 
mere  will  of  the  lawgiver,  but  frora  the  goodnesa  and  suitable- 
besB  in  the  thing  unto  their  comiaon  good,  so  here  moral 
laws,  which  concern  all  nations,  bind  not  merely  because  of  the 
will  of  God,  {whi(^h  of  itself  is  i-ulfieieut  to  bind  nil  men,  if  he 
had  pleased  to  put  no  more  in  moral  laws,)  but  nlao  because  of 
■  M>me  goodnesa  in  J  he  things  commanded,  which  in  nothing  else 
but  eucK  suitableness  as  is  mentioned  unto  the  common  good  of 
nun.  What  this  suitableness  lo  human  nature  is,  we  shall  show 
in  due  place ;  meanwhile,  I  do  not  understand,  by  snitnbleneBs  ta 
human  nature,  the  inchnation  of  human  nature  now  corrupted  b/ 
sin;  for  infused  and  supernatural  virtues  and  graces  (to  which 
therefore  human  nature  is  not  inclined)  are  (as  Vaaques  truly 
and  strongly  maintains)  in  some  sense  natural  and  good  in 
themselves,  not  because  human  nature  Is  inclined  to  them,  but 
because  they  are  very  congruons  and  consentaneous  thereunto, 
and  perfecting  human  nature,  as  such,  and  consequently  suitable 
thereunto.  A  good  is  said  lo  be  utile  el  deteclabi/t  in  respect  of 
some  prodt  or  delight  which  eomes  to  man  by  it ;  but  bonum  honei- 
turn  in  genere  mnrit  (as  Suorez  and  his  fellows  call  it)  ccn- 
sislB  in  a  kind  of  decency,  comeliness,  and  sweet  proportion  be- 
tween sach  an  act  and  such  a  nature  as  acta  by  right  reoFon ;  to 
which  nature  it  is  exceeding  comely  and  suitable,  whether  any 
profit  or  delight  cotne  thereby,  yea  or  no.  As  now  in  the  di- 
vine natutB  it  is  exceeding  beautiful  and  comely  for  it  (and  there-  , 
fore  good  in  itself)  to  he  bountiful  and  merciful,  and  to  do  good 
unto  the  creature,  although  no  profit  could  come  lo  him  thereby. 
It  is  God's  nature,  as  I  may  so  say,  so  lo  do  :  so  it  is  in  human 
nature  ;  it  is  a  comely  thing  to  honor  parents,  reverence  God's 
name,  to  be  loving  and  merciful  lo  all  men,  ta  heart,  word,  aud 
deed  ;  to  give  God  a  fit  and  the  most  meet  proportion  of  time 
for  solemn  service  of  him,  who  allows  us  many  days  to  serve 
our  own  good  :  tbifi  is  good  nature,  and  being  thus  seemly  and 
suitable  to  it,  this,  and  such  like  tilings,  are  therefore  good  in 
_themselve3,  though  perhaps  neither  profit  nor  pleasure  should 
rSome  nnio  man  hereby.  And  hence^t  is  well  observed  by  some 
of  the  schoolmen,  that  right  reason  ilolli  not  make  a  thing  mur- 
al, but  only  judgelh  and  discerneth  what  is  moral ;  for  right  rea- 
son doth  not  make  a  thing  suitable,  but  only  seeih  whether  it  be 
|bo  or  no  ;  a  thing  may  he  suitable  before  right  reason  see  it,  yel 
'when  it  is  presented  to  reason,  it  sees  it  suitable,  &i  the  wall  is 
white  before  the  eye  see  it,  yet  when  the  eye  doth  sec  it,  il 


appears  nhitc  alM.     It  may  be  a 
Gml  a  serenih  part  of  our  time,  though 
I   itself  find  out  such  a  meet  proportion  ;  yet  when  reason  sees  it, 
l.it  i«  forced  to  acknowledge  a  pomeliDees  of  eiguil}-,  nnd  suitable- 
I  aesa  therein,  as  shall  hcrcatier  nppear.^^^  ^^^^s^ 

'  "     7%esit  22.     But  here  let  it  be  ob^rveJ,  that   allBough   all 
moral  laws  are  thus  suilable  to  man's  nature,  yet  they  are  not 
all  alike  suitable  thereunto,  and  consequentl}'  not  equally  good 
in  ihenuelves ;    for  some   laws    are  more  immediately  suitable 
And  good,  others  mediately.     And  as  Wallceua  well  observes,  out 
of  Scotus,  that  there  is  a  double  morality :  "  The  first  is  ii«  lege  . 
L  Datura    tlricte    tumpla,    i.  e.,   such    laws  as  are  so  deeply  en-  | 
I  graven  upon  nature  as  that  these  principles  can  not  be  blotted  | 
I  ou  but  by  abolishing  of  nature;    the  second   is  de  lege  naiu- 
Lf*f  l"'' tuntpla  ;  and  these  laws  do  much  depend  upon  the  will 
M*tS  the  Lawgiver,  but  yet  they  are  very  congruous  and  suita- 
l-JHo  to  liuman  nature,  even    from  the  light  of"  those  principles 
Pit  nature."     And  hence  I  suppose  it  will  follow,  that /the  law  1 
pfer  a  seventh  part  of  time  to   be  dedicated  to  God,  may  welt 
I'lie  a  aoral  law,  although    it  depends  much    upon  the  will  of 
I'lhv  Lawgiver,  and  is   not  so  immediately  written  upon  man's 
I  lieart,    nor    so    equally  suitable    to    human  nature,  as  the  law  . 
I  tif  love    and    thankfulness    to  God    our  Creator   is.     For  (as  I 
I.Cameruu  well  observes)  that   some  things  which  are  good'Bf"^ 
I  Ihemselves  have    more    of  Grod's    image   stamped  upon    them, 
ft«oine  bare  lesd  of  it  i  and    hence  it  is,  that  though  all  moral 
f  fatws  arc  good  In  themselves,  yet  not  equally  so:  there  is  more 
l>  inuuttiibleneM  to  bate  and  curse  God  tlian  to  lust  alter  another 
W  nan's  house  or  servant ;  and  yet  both  are  evil  in  themselves, 
R«nd  breaches  of  moral  rules. 
K      Thrtit  23.     Hence,  therefore,  it  follows,  that  bocanse  moral 

■  precepts  are  of  such  things  as  are  good  in  themselves,  they  are 
Klberefore  pc-rpelunl  and  unchangeable,  and  because  they  are  in    - 

■  this  respect  good  in  themeelvcd.  to  wit,  because  they  are  suitable 
haiHl  cumely  to  man's  nature  as  rational,  hence  also  they  are 
vmivcraol :  ao  that  perpetuity  and  universality  seem  to  be  the 
Kiiii«panil>le  adjuncts,  rather  than  the  essence  of  a  moral  law : 
B^KI  when  Uiey  are  called  iKrpelual  and  uncbangeable,  we  must 
MudersUnd  them  in  respect  of  Go<l's  ordinary  disiHsnsation ;  for 
■b*  w^  it  the  groat  Lawgiver  may,  and  doth  sometimes  extraor- 
H4inarily  dis^M-nsc  with  moral  laws.  Abnihnm  might  have  killed 
W^M  aon  by  irxtrHordinnry  dis|ivnaaiion :  Adam's  sons  and  dnugh- 
Bcn  did  Biarnr  one  another  by  special  commission,  which  now  to 
HO  ordinarily  would  be  inoMtuous,  and  consequently  against  ft 


1 


\ 


moral  law,  as  is  evidenl.  (Lev.  xviii.)  Only  let  it  be  here  re- 
meiabered,  that  when  1  coll  moral  kwa  perpeluiil  and  uniTersal, 
that  I  spenli  of  such  lawe  as  are  primarilj  moral,  which  do  first' 
ij  and  originally  suit  wilh  human  nature ;  for  laws  as  are  at 
secoud  band  moral,  and  as  it  were  accidentally  so,  may  be  change- 
able, as  hereafter  shall  appear. 

T^esit  34.  How  these  things  may  evince  the  morahty  of  a 
seventh  part  of  lime  will  be  difficult  to  conceive,  unless  farther 
inquiry  be  made  j  to  wil,  when  and  by  what  rules  may  it  be 
known  that  any  law  is  suitable  and  agreeable  unto  human  nature, 
and  consequently  good  in  ilsejf?  For  resolation  of  wluch  doubt, 
there  is  great  silence  generally  in  most  writers  :  Bishop  White 
endeavors  it  by  giving  three  rules  to  clear  up  this  mist ;  but  (pace 
tanli  tfiri)  I  much  fear  that  be  much  diirkens  and  obscures  the 
truth  herein,  and  muds  the  streams.  For,  1.  Because  the  Sab- 
iiutli  is  not  simply  moral,  but  hath  something  positive  in  it,  he 
therefore  makes  it  lemjiorary,  as  appears  in  his  conclusion  of  that 
discourse  ;  whenas  it  is  evident,  by  his  own  confession,  that  some 
laws  positively  moral  are  general  and  universal.  "  For  laws 
positively  moral  (he  aaith)  are  either  personal  only,  as  was  Abra- 
ham's coming  out  of  his  own  country.  (Gen.  xii.  1.)  Some  are 
for  one  nation  or  republic  only,  (Ex.  xxii.  1,  3,  7.)  Some  are 
commoD  and  general  for  all  mankind,  as  the  law  of  polygamy." 
2.  He  seems  to  make  laws  simply  and  entirely  moral  to  be  such 
ns  are  in  their  inward  nature  morally  good,  before  and  without 
any  external  imposition  of  the  Lawgiver.  Now,  if  by  external 
imposition  he  means  the  external  manner  of  Mosaical  administra- 
tion of  the  l^w,  there  is  then  aorae  truth  in  what  he  affirms  i  for 
doubtless  before  Moaea'  time  the  patriarchs  had  the  law  revealed 
atYer  anotlior  manner ;  but  if  by  external  imposition  be  meant 
external  revelation,  whether  immediately  by  God  himself  unto 
man's  conscience,  or  mediately  by  man.  then  it  is  most  false  that 
any  thing  can  be  morally  good  or  evil,  much  less  entirely  and 
simply  ao,  befoi'e  and  without  some  such  law ;  for  though  it 
may  be  good  and  suitable  to  man  before  a  law  pass  upon  it, 
yet  nothing  can  be  morally  good  or  evilwilliouL_somo^  taw, 
for  then  there  should  be  some  sin  whicKTanot  the  transgres- 
eioD  of  a  law,  and  some  obedience  which  is  not  directed  by  any 
law,  both  which  are  impossible  and  abominable.  3.  "  He  makes 
moral  laws  by  external  imposition  and  constitution  only  .to  be 
,  such  as,  before  the  external  imposition  of  them,  are  adiaphorous, 
and  good  or  evil  only  by  reason  of  some  circumstance."  When-  I 
as  we  know  thai  gome  such  laws  as  are  most  entirely  moral,  yet 
in  respect  of  their  inward  nature  generally  considered,  they  are    ■ 


t 


THE   BOR\Lirv    OK   THE   SABBATU.  37 

iiidifl'ereiit  aL«o ;  fur  not  to  kill  and  take  away  man's  life  is  a 
moral  Iaw  entirely  so.  yet,  in  the  general  nalure  of  it,  it  is  indif- 
ferent, »Qd  by  cirt;utu«lanc«  may  become  eitlier  lawful  or  un- 
lawful ;  lawful  in  case  of  war  or  public  execution  of  justice ; 
unlawful  out  of  a  private  spirit  aud  per^nal  revenge.  In  one 
word,  the  whole  drill  of  bis  discoitrsc  hc'reia  in  to  show  that 
the  Sabbath  is  not  moral ;  and  this  he  woulil  prove  because  the 
tnbbath  is  ooi  simply  nniTentii-ely  moral,  ^which  ia  a  most  feeble 
•nd  weak  consequence;)  and  this  he  proves  "because  the  Sab* 
balh  day  hath  (in  respect  of  its  inward  nature)  no  more  holiness 
and  goodness  thiin  any  other  day,  all  the  days  of  the  week  bein^ 
«<|aaUy  good  by  creation."  But  he  niighl  well  know  that  the 
day  is  not  the  law  of  the  fourth  commandment,  but  the  keep- 
ing holy  uf  the  Sabbath  day,  which  is  a  Iliijig  inwardly  good, 
•nd  entirely  moral,  if  we  speak  of  some  day.  Nay,  (saith  the  . 
bifhop,)  the  law  of  nalure  leachetb  that  some  sufficient  and  con- 
Tcaient  time  be  set  apart  fur  God's  worship ;  if,  therefore,  some 
day  be  moral,  although  all  days  by  creation  be  indlfiferent  and 
equal,  aorarding  to  bis  own  confession,  what  then  should  hinder 
fhe  juata  pan,  or  the  seventh  part  of  time,  from  being  moral  ? 
Will  he  say  because  all  days  are  etiually  holy  and  good  by  crea- 
ti«n  ?  Then  why  should  he  grant  auy  day  at  all  to  be  entirely 
moral  in  respect  of  a  sufficient  and  convenient  time  to  be  set 
■part  for  God  ?  If  he  saith  the  will  and  iiapusilioD  of  the 
Lawgiver  abolisbeth  its  morality,  because  he  binds  to  a  seventh 
pan  of  lime,  then  we  shall  show  that  this  is  most  false  and  fee- 
ble in  the  sequel. 

nwt  25.  There  are,  therefore,  four  rules  to  guide  our 
judgments  aright  herein,  whereby  we  may  know  when  a  law  ia 
•uilable  and  agreeable  to  human  nalure,  and  consequently  good 
in  itnelf ;  which  will  be  sufficient  to  clear  op  the  law  of  the  Sab- 
bath to  be  truly  moral,  (whether  in  a  higher  or  lower  degree  of 
morality  it  makes  no  matter,)  and  that  it  is  not  a  law  merely 
icmpomry  and  ceremonial. 

1.  Sudi  Inws  as  necessarily  flow  from  natural  relation,  both 
between  Gi>d  and  man,  as  well  as  between  man  and  man: 
IhoBB  ar«  fcaod  in  themselves,  because  suitable  and  congruous 
hi  human  nature  ;  for  there  is  a  decency  and  sweet  comeliness 
In  Bitnnd  to  those  rules  to  which  our  relations  bind  vs.  For 
Imm  litis  ground  the  prophet  Muiochi  ualls  fur  feur  and  honor 
of  God  us  monil  duties,  be<'ause  lliey  are  tio  comely  and  seemly 


I  for  n^  in  respect  uT  tlie  relation  belwi 


If  I  be  your  Lord, 


I  and  Master,  and  Father,  where  is  my  fear?  where  is  my  honor? 


[(klal.  i.  e.)     I^vc  alsobetwi 


I  and  wife  is  pressed  aa  m  < 


38  TUE  iionALiTi  ov  Tilt:  sABiiArn. 

comely  duty  by  the  apostle,  from  tbat  near  relation  beliceen 
them,  being  made  "oue  flesh."  (Eph.  v.  28,  29.)  There  are 
Bcarce  any  who  question  the  moi^ityof  tlie  duties  of  the  second 
table,  because  they  are  so  evidenlly  comely,  suitable,  and  Agree- 
able to  human  nature,  coneidered  relatively,  as  man  stands  in 
relation  to  those  who  are  or  should  be  unto  him  as  hia  own  flesh  ; 
and  therefore  he  is  to  honor  superiors,  and  therefore  must  not 
kill,  nor  steal,  nor  lie,  nor  covet,  nor  defile  the  flesh,  etc. ;  but  the 
morality  of  all  llie  rules  of  the  liriit  table  is  not  seen  so  evident- 
ly, because  the  relation  between  God  and  man,  wliieh  makes 
them  comely  and  suitable  to  man,  is  not  so  well  considered;  for 
if  tb&re  be  a  God,  and  this  God  be  our  God,  according  to  the 
first  commandment,  then  it  is  Tcry  comely  and  meet  for  man  to 
honor,  love,  fear  him,  delight,  trust  in  him,  etc ;  and  if  this  God 
mustbeworshipedof  man  in  respect  of  the  mutual  relation  between 
them,  then  it  is  comely  and  meet  to  worship  him  with  his  own 
worship,  according  to  the  second  commandment,  and  lo  worship 
him  with  nil  holy  reverence,  according  to  liie  third  command- 
ment ;  and  if  lie  must  be  thus  worshiped,  and  yet  at  all  times 
(in  respect  of  our  necessary  worldly  employments)  can  not  be  so 
solemnly  honored  an^AorshJped  as  is  tomely  and  meet  for  so 
great  a  Gad,  then  it  la  very  fit  and  comely  for  all  men  to  have 
some  set  and  stated  time  of  worship,  according  to  some  fit  pro- 
portion, which  the  Lord  of  time  only  can  best  make ;  and  there- 
fore a  seventh  part  of  time  which  he  doth  make,  according  to 
the  fourth  commandment. 

*  2.  Such  laws  as  are  drawn  from  tlie  imilable  attributes  and 
works  of  God  arc  congruous  and  suitable  to  man's  Datum ;  for 
tfEat  greater  comeliness  con  there  be,  or  what  can  be  more  suit- 
able to  that  nature  which  is  immediately  made  for  God,  than  to 
be  like  unto  God,  and  to  attend  unto  those  rules  which  guide  there- 
unto  P  Hence  to  be  merciful  (o  men  in  misery,  to  forgive  our 
enemies  and  thode  tbat  do  us  wrong,  to  be  bountiful  to  those  that 
be  in  want,  to  be  patient  when  we  suffer  evil,  are  all  moral  du- 
ties, because  they  are  comely  and  suitable  lo  man,  and  Uiat  be- 
□ause  herein  he  resembles  and  is  made  like  unto  God.  Hence 
to  labor  six  days  and  rest  a  seventh  is  a  moral  because  a 
comely  and  suitable  duly,  and  that  because  herein  man  follows 
the  example  of  God,  and  becomes  most  like  unto  him.  And 
hence  it  is  that  a  seventh  year  of  rest  can  not  be  urged  upon 
man  to  be  as  much  moral  as  a  seventh  day  of  rest,  because  man 
hath  God's  example  and  pattern  in  resting  a  seventh  day,  but 
not  in  resting  any  seventh  year ;  God  never  made  himself  an 
example  of  any  ceremonial  duty,  it  being  unsuitable  to  his  glori- 


TllK   -linilALITV    OF   Jt\K    SAHBATn.  39 

reU>;nrj  tn  lo  do,  but  onlj  of  moral  and  Bpinliial  holinesa  ;  | 
d  idfivfore  ihere  is  $omewliiiI  ebe  ii)  a  seventh  dny  that  is  not/ 
a  wvenlh  year;  and  it  is  utterly  false  to  think  (as  some  do)/ 
It  tliere  is  as  mucli  equity  for  the  oliservaliun  of  the  one 
I  there  is  of  the  other.  "  And  here,  by  the  way.  may  he 
ttn  a  gross  mislake  of  Mr.  Primruse.  who  would  make  God'ii 
■  «xun|ile  herein  not  to  be  morally  imitabic  of  us,  nor  man 
necessarily  bound  thereunto,  it  being  not  naturally,  and  in  re- 
fpect  of  itself,  imitxblc,  but  only  because  it  pleaseth  God  to  com-* 
nand  man  so  to  do  ;  as  also  because  this  action  of  God  did  not 
flow  from  Buch  attributes  of  God  as  are  in  their  nature  imitable, 
••  mercy,  bounty,  etc.,  but  from  one  of  those  attributes  as  is  not 
imitable.  and  which  we  ought  not  to  imitate,  viz.,  hid  omnipo- 
ICDcy.  But  suppose  it  did  How  from  his  omnipotently,  and  that 
we  otif^t  tiot  to  imitat«  his  omni{ioiency,  and  that  we,  who  are 
weakneas  iuelf,  can  not  imitate  omnipotent  actions,  yet  it  is  obvious 
lo  common  sense,  that  such  acts  which  arise  from  such  attribules 
aa  nui  not  be  imitated  of  us,  in  respect  of  the  particular  effects 
which  are  produced  hy  them,  yet  in  the  actings  of  such  attributes 
lb«re  may  be  something  morally  good  which  is  imitable  of  us  ; 
as,  for  example,  though  we  arc  not  to  imitate  God  in  his  mirae- 
ntoua  works,  (as  in  the  burning  of  Sodom,  and  such  like,) 
jH  there  may  be  that  justice  and  wisdom  of  God  shining  therein 
which  we  ooght  to  imitate ;  for  we  ought  lo  see,  before  we  cen- 
■uro  and  condemn,  as  God  did  in  proceeding  against  Sodom. 
So  it  is  Id  this  exlraonlinary  work  of  making  the  world,  where- 
in, ahhaugh  we  are  not  to  go  about  to  tnake  another  world  with- 
in that  timei,  as  God  did,  yel  therein  the  labor  and  re.«t  of  God 
«u  teen,  which  is  imitable  of  man ;  which  labor  and  rest,  as 
tb«y  are  moral  duties,  so  they  are  confirmed  by  a  moral  exam- 
fir,  and  therefore  most  seemly  and  comely  for  man  to  imitate 
froRi  such  an  rxample;  and  whereas  he  afiirms  that  this  example 
was  not  moral.  U^cause  it  was  not  in  itself  imitable,  being  grounded 
duly  upon  God's  free  will."  The  reason  is  weak :  for  to  labor  in 
ne'a  calling  is.  without  controversy,  a  moral  duty,  (as  idleness  is  a 
BOral  sisi)  yet  if  one  would  ask  why  man  is  to  labor  here,  and 
■M  rather  lo  lead  a  contemplative  life  in  the  vision  and  fruition 
of  (tod  immediately,  I  suppose  no  reason  can  be  given  but 
the  good  pleasiire  of  God,  who,  in  his  deep  wisdom,  saw  it  most 
meet  for  man  to  s|iend  some  proportionable  time  in  labor  fur  him- 
■elf,  and  some  in  reHi  for  God :  whereunlo  he  gave  man  such 
an  eminent  example  from  the  t>eginning  of  the  world.  Master 
PrinronG  can  not  deny  but  that  a  convenient  time  for  lalMtr  anil 
mt,  in  general,  is  moral.  "  But,"  saith,  lie,  "  if  God  had  not  dc' 
dnrvd  lus  will  by  a  eonunandraent  particularly  to  labor  six  days, 


I 


I 


nndrest  tlw  eevenlb,  iheJews  would  nol  have  liionsht  llicinsplr«i 
bound  to  Ihii  observBiioii  from  God's  example  only  :  wbieh  showi 
that  there  ig  do  moraliljr  in  it  to  bind  (lie  cunscivncu  forever." 
But  it  maj  be  ns  troll  doubted  whether  acts  of  liounlj  and  mer- 
ey  (to  which  he  thinks  we  are  bound  merely  from  God's  ex- 
ample) in  respei^t  of  the  parliculiu'  applicaliou  of  ihnte  acts  to 
enemies  of  God  and  of  onrselve*,  as  weli  as  lo  friends,  be  o*' 
binding  virtue  merely  by  God's  example,  miless  we  had  n  com- 
mandment thoreunto  yfor  in  moml  precepts,  as  the  thing  is  com- 
manded becanse  it  is  good,  so  it  is  not  morally  pxid  nnless  it  be 
commanded :  but  suppose  that  God'a  example  of  labor  six  days, 
itnd  rest  ihe  seventh,  should  not  have  been  binding  as  other  ex- 
amples, unless  there  had  been  a  commandment  for  so  doing ;  yet 
this  is  no  argument  that  this  example  is  not  moral  at  all,  but  only 
that  it  is  not  so  equally  moral,  and  known  to  be  so,  as  some  other 
duties  bo  ;  for  man  may  spend  too  much  time  in  labor,  and  givs 
'  God  loo  short  or  too  little  time  for  rest.  If,  therefore,  he  wants  the 
light  of  a  commandment  or  rule  to  direct  and  guide  him  to  the 
dttesi  and  roost  meet  proportion  of  lime  for  both,  is  be  not  apt 
hereby  to  break  the  rule  of  morality,  which  consists  (as  hath 
been  showu)  in  that  wbii?h  is  most  suitable,  comely,  and  conven- 
ient for  man  lo  give  to  Goil  or  Toan  ?  The  commandment,  there- 
fore, in  this  case,  measuring  out  mid  declaring  such  a  proportion, 
and  wliat  time  is  most  convenient  and  comely  for  man  to  tnktt 
-to  himself  for  labor,  or  to  give  lo  God  for  rest,  it  doth  not  abolish 
the  morality  of  the  example,  but  doth  rather  establish  and  make 
it>  It  sets  out  [he  most  comely  and  meet  proportion  of  time  for 
labor  and  rest,  and  therefore  such  a  time  as  is  most  good  in  itself, 
because  most  comely  and  proportionable,  which,  being  therefore 
commanded,  is  a  moral  duty  in  man,  and  tbe  example  hereof 
morally  binding  in  God. 

3.  Such  taws,  which  man's  reason  may  sec,  either  by  innate 
light  or  by  any  other  external  help  and  light,  to  be  just,  and  good, 
and  Bt  for  mnn  to  observe,  such  laws  are  congruous  and  suitable  to 
human  nature.  I  say  by  any  external  help,  as  well  as  by  innate 
light;  for  neither  internal  nor  external  light  makes  a  thing  just 
and  suitable  lo  man,  no  more  than  the  light  of  the  sun,  or  the 
light  of  a  lantern,  makes  the  king's  highway  to  the  eiiy ;  but 
they  only  declare  and  manilost  the  way,  or  that  which  was  so  iu 
itself  before.  Hence  it  comes  to  pass,  that  although  man's  rea- 
son can  nut  see  ihe  eqnity  of  some  laws,  aitfecedenter,  by  innate 
light,  before  it  be  illuminated  by  some  external  light,  yet  if  by 
this  external  light  the  mind  sees  the  equity,  justice,  and  holiness 
of  such  a  law,  this  may  autficiently  argue  the  morality  of  such  a 
'        which  was  just  and  good,  before  any  light  dUcoverod  it,  and 


THE    SABBATH.  41 

n  DOW  dUcorercd  onlj',  not  made  to  be  eo,  whelher  by  inlerDal  or 

external  light.     "  And  henl^c  Aquiiins  well  observes,  tbnt  moral 

bws    (which  he  nmkcs  to  be  such  as  are    congruous  lo  right 

Kngoo)  sometimeE  are  euch  as  not  only  command  such  things 

which  reason  doth  readily  see  to  be  comely  and  meet,  but  aUo 

socb  laws  about  which  miin'a  reaflon  may  readily  and  easily  err, 

P  flod  go  u&tray  from  that  which  is  comely  and  meet."     And  hence 

^Jt  is,  thnt  aUhough  no  reason  or  wit  of  mun  could  ever  have 

■'fcuod  out  the  most  just  And  equal  proportion  of  time,  or  what 

IproportioD  ift  mojit  comely  and  suitable,  or  that  a  seventh  part  of 

■  liaie  tboidd  have  been  universally  observed  as  holy  to  God,  yet 

■  tr  any  exi«rtial  li<;ht  and  teaching  from  above  shall  reveal  this 
B  tfmc,  and  the  equity  and  suitableness  of  it,  so  that  reason  shall 
liadtnowleUge  il  etjuul  and  good,  that  if  we  have  six  days  for  our- 

■  wives,  God  should  have  one  for  himself,  this  is  k  strong  argu- 
B-MODt  thai  such  a  command  is  moral,  because  reason,  thus  illami- 
■asicd,  cait  not  but  ackuowlcdge  it  most  meet  aod  equal ;  for  though 
■i>BKon  may  not,  by  any  natural  or  innate  light,  readily  see  thnt 
HfB^  a  dirisioa  of  lime  Is  most  suitable,  and  yet  may  readily  err 
■iml  misconeeive  the  most  suilabte  and  convenient  proportion  an<l 
■iE vision  of  time,  it  is  then  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  morality  of  such 
■-a  command,  if  the  congruily  and  equity  of  it  be  discerned  con- 
tmgufntfr  only,  (as  we  say,)  and  by  external  light.-' 

■  4.  Whatever  law  was  once  writ  upon  man's  heart  in  piire  na- 
■'tv«  ii  tiill  Kuilnhle,  and  congruouR,  and  convenient  to  human 
E  afttare,  and  consequently  good  in  itself  and  moral.  For  whnl- 
I  trvT  WB0  so  writ  u|)on  Adam's  heart  was  not  writ  there  as  ujioii  a 
U^ritaic  person,  but  as  a  common  nerson.  having  the  common  na- 

■  iisre  of  man,  and  tiumlTiig  in  the  room  of  all  mankind-  Hence, 
KM  DOtbing  was  writ  then  but  what  was  common  to  all  men,  so 
Ksoch  lhing»  thus  writ  were  good  for  all  men,  and  suitable  lo 
Mtll  men,  it  bring  most  injurious  to  God  to  think  that  any  thing 
Hcvil  sboulJ  be  iiDprinled  there.  If,  therefore,  it  be  proved 
nku  the  lnw  of  the  Sabbath  was  then  writ  upon  man's  heart, 
nben  it  undeniably  follows  that  it  is  meet  and  suitable  lo  all  men 
BmII  io  obtcrve  a  ISabbath  day ;  and  indeed  to  the  right  under- 
Bitooding  of  what  is  suitable  lo  man  as  man,  and  conaequenlly 
■toontl,  there  is  uotfaing  more  helpful  than  to  cunsidcr  of  our  prini- 
Hti*e  wtate,  and  what  was  suitable  to  our  nature  then  ;  for  if  that 
BAich  is  moral  in  marriage  is  to  be  searched  for  in  the  first  and 
HipHenI  records  of  our  first  creation  by  the  appointment  of  our 
nfevioar,  I  then  know  no  reason  (whaiever  others  object) 
uni  morality  in  all  other  laws  and  duties  is  there  to  be  sought 
KAm  ;  for  altbougb  our  original  perfection  is  now  defaced  9.ai  ' 


I 


I 


lost,  and  in  ihat  respect  is  a  nieruin  non  eru,  (as  some 
call  it,)  yet  it  had  once  a  being,  and,  tlierelbre,  in  tliis  con- 
troversy, we  may  lawfully  inquire  afi«r  it,  consitlering  espe- 
cially iliat  this  being  which  oqco  it  had  may  be  eufiicienllj 
known  by  the  contrary  being  of  universal  corruption  iLat  is 
in  us  now,  oa  aha  by  the  light  of  the  Scriptures,  in  which 
the  Searcher  and  Maker  of  all  hearts  declares  it  unto  us  ;  and, 
indeed,  there  are  many  moral  duties  whieh  will  never  appear 
good  and  suitable  to  man,  but  rather  hard  and  unreasona- 
ble (because  impossible)  until  we  see  and  remember  from 
whence  we  are  fallen,  and  what  once  we  had, 

TAesis  26.  If,  therefore,  a  moral  law  eommand  that  which 
is  suiLiblo  to  huniHU  nature,  and  good  in  itself,  then  it  follows 
from  hencer-(wliidi  was  touched  before.)  that  divine  deleroilna- 
tion  of  something  in  a  law  dotit  not  always  take  away  moral- 
ity from  a  law  ;  for  divine  determination  is  many  times  no 
more  but  ft  plain  and  positive  declaration  of  that  whieh  is 
suitable,  just,  and  good,  and  equal  for  man  to  observe.  Xow, 
■hut  which  points  out  and  declares  unto  us  the  morality  of  a 
law  can  not  possibly  abolisli  and  destroy  such  a  law.  For  a 
moral  law  commanding  that  which  is  suitable  and  gooil,  (as 
liath  been  shown,)  it  is  impossible  that  the  commandment 
which  delerminelh  and  direcleih  to  lhat  which  is  good,  that 
by  thia  determination  it  should  overthrow  the  being  of  such 
a  good  law,  nay,  verily,  particular  determination  and  posi- 
liveuess  (as  some  call  it)  is  so  far  from  abolishing,  as  that  it 
mther  adds  to  the  being,  as  well  as  to  the  clearing  up  and 
maui  festal  ion,  of  such  a  law.  For  if  it  be  not  sulficient  to 
make  a  moral  law,  that  the  thing  be  good  in  itself,  but  that  also 
it  must  be  commanded,  tlien  the  commandment  which  many 
times  only  determints  to  that  which  good  (and  coneequently 
determination)  doih  add  unto  the  being  of  a  moral  law. 

Tyteii*  27.  There  is  scorce  any  thing  but  it  is  morally  indif- 
'ferent,  until  it  falls  under  some  divine  determination;  but  divine 
deiermioaiioo  is  twofold:  1.  Of  such  things  which  are  not  good, 
lil,  or  needi'ul  for  man  to  observe  without  a  command,  as  sacri- 
fices aiid  sacraments,  and  such  like  :  now  herein,  in  such  laws, 
positive  determination  may  be  very  well  mconsistent  with  moral- 
ity ;  and  it  may  be  safely  said,  that  such  a  law  is  not  moral,  but 
rather  positive  ;  and  thus  the  learned  sometimes  sfieok.  2.  Of 
such  tbmgs  as  are  equal,  good  in  themselves,  needful,  and  suita- 
ble for  man  ;  and  here  particular  determination  and  moruiiiy 
may  kiss  each  other,  and  arc  not  to  be  opposed  one  to  auother: 
and  hence  it  is,  that  if  God's  commandment  positive  determines 


I 


TUII    UOKALITV    OF    TUF.    S^fiDATIT.  43 

e  any  part  of  insiitulcd  worahip,  (suppose  sacrBinents 
,)  yet  Burh  laws  ure  not  moral,  (flirhough  it  be  moral 
.  general  to  woi^hip  God  aflei*  bis  own  will,)  because  ihe  ihiugs 
'tbenuelve^  are  not  good  in  ihemselvea,  nor  needful :  but  if  God 
•hall  iletcriniDe  us  to  observe  a  Sabbatli  day,  this  delcrminaiioii 
dulh  Dot  lake  away  the  morality  of  the  command,  because  it 
being  good  in  ii£ijlf  to  give  God  the  meetest  and  fitti^t pni|y)riion 
of  time  for  holy  rest,  and  the  commandment  dtjclaring  that  thid 
Mvcnih  part,  or  so,  is  such  a  time,  henee  it  comes  to  pass,  that  i 
Ihta  time  ia  good  in  itself,  and  therefore  determination,  by  the  J 
oommandment  in  tills  case,  doth  not  abolish  the  morality  hereof.  I 
It  is  a  moral  duly  to  pay  iribate  to  CueHar,  to  give  to  Cuisar  that 
ubich  u  Creaar'i :  hence  because  a  man  may  give  loo  much  or 
too  little  to  him,  that  determioalion- which  directs  us  to  that  par- 
tKular  wliieh  is  Caesar's  due,  and  most  meet  for  him  to  receive 
and  us  to  give,  lliat  is  best  in  itself,  and  is  therefore  moral :  so 
prayer  b  a  moral  duty  ;  but  because  a  man  may  be  templed  lo 
pray  loo  oft  or  else  loo  seldom,  hence  detennination  of  the 
fittest,  and  this  finest  season,  makes  this  or  ihat  moral.  So  it  is 
here  in  the  Sabbath.  I  do  willingly  and  freely  profess  thus  far 
with  our  adversaries  of  the  morality  of  the  Sabbath  i  that  it  is  a 
moral  duty  to  give  God  some  time  and  day  of  holy  rest  and  wor- 
ship, as  it  is  moral  lo  give  CsiUir  his  due,  and  to  pray  to  God : 
Vit  b«tw.u$e  we  may  give  God  too  mimy  days  or  loo  few,  hence  ' 
iho  determination  of  the  most  meet  and  fittest  proportion  of  lime,  ' 
and  particularly  of  this  time,  makes  this  and  Ihat  to  be  also 
noTaL  if  no  day  at  all  in  general  was  good  and  lit  for  man  to 
give  to  God,  and  God  should,  notwithstanding,  command  a 
wtenth  day.  then  Ihe  commoudmcnt  of  such  a  day  with  such 
po^live  determination  could  not  be  moral  any  more  ihan  the 
determination  of  sacriJices  and  such  like.  But  every  day.  (say 
mnt^  of  our  adversaries,)  some  day,  (say  others  of  them,)  being 
•ckiMwIedged  lo  be  equal,  just,  and  good,  and  most  meet  to  give 
God.  bcnce  it  is  that  determination  of  a  seventh  day  dolh  not 
abolish,  but  clear  up,  that  which  is  raornl,  because  it  [Hiints  out 
onto  man  tliat  which  is  most  meet  and  equal,  lleuce,  therefore, 
it  follows  that  a  seventh  day  is  tlierelore  commanded,  because  it 
U  good,  and  not  good  merely  because  commanded.  Dciermino- 
tion,  also,  declaring  what  is  most  meet,  dcclareih  hereby  thai  this 
Commandmept  is  also  moral,  and  not  merely  positive  and  ceremo- 
nbl ;  which  not  being  well  considered  by  some,  this  fourth  com- 
(hnving  some  more  positiveness  aud  del eriiii nation 
diven  of  the  resij  hath  therefore  been  the  chief  btumbling 
I  wkI  rock  of  offense  to  many  against  the  morality  of  it|  by 


I 


I 


which  they  have  miserably  bi-uiscd  thprnselveii,  while  Ihey  havo 
,  endeavored  to  desli-oy  It,  upoii  so  gross  »  inii^iake^ 
-  •  TTietit  28.  It  is  true  ihut  God,  out  of  his  Hbsolute  sovereignty 
I  mid  good  (jleaaure  of  his  wilt,  might  have  deli.Tinine<I  ua  lo  ot* 
.serve  n  fourth,  a  iiioth,  a  twenlieili  part  of  our  lime  in  holy  rest, 
more  or  leas,  as  well  as  lo  a  seventh  j  yet  let  us  conaider  of  God 
ai  acting  by  counsel,  and  weigliing  and  cunsiderlng  with  himself 
what  is  most  meet  and  equal,  and  whal  proportion  of  time,  iii 
most  fit  for  himself;  arid  tlien  (with  leave  of  better  thoiightg, 
when  1  see  better  reason)  I  BupjtOBe  uo  man  can  prove  (unless 
be  be  made  privy  to  the  unknown  secrets  of  (be  wisdom  of  God) 
that  any  other  proportion  had  been  qs  meet  as  this  now  made 
by  the  actual  determination  of  God /there  was  not,  therefore, 
the  mere  and  sovereign  will  of  God  wbicli  thus  determined  of 
this  sevontit  part  of  time,  hut  also  ihc  wisdom  of  God,  which, 
considering  all  things,  saw  it  luoat  meet  and  suitable  for  man  lo 
give,  and  God  lo  receive  from  man,  and  therefore,  being  com- 
nntnded,  and  thus  particularly  determined,  becomes  moral. 

ThtiU  'i'i.  If  that  couimandmenc  be  moral  which  is  there- 
fore  commanded  because  it  is  good,  llien  hence  it  follows,  in  the 
second  place,  that  such  laws  only  are  not  moral  htws,  which  art) 
known  to  nil  men  by  the  light  of  corrupt  nature.  For.  as  halh 
been  already  said,  a  law  may  be  holy,  just,  good,  suitable,  and 
meet  for  nil  men  lo  observe,  whether  the  light  of  corrupt  nature, 
by  awakening  or  sleeping  principles,  (as  some  call  tbem,)  know  it 
or  no,  and  such  a  comeliness 
sufficient  to  make  it  moral.  'I 
in  Paul,  which  he  never  saw, 
of  corrupt  nature,  until  the 
efficacy  and  power,  (Kom.  vii. 
his  moral  laws  to  wliat  our 

of  themselves  to  see,  any  more  than  lo  what  our  i: 
ure  actually  able  to  do.  If  the  light  of  ukture  be  imperfect 
in  us  since  the  fall,  (which  no  wise  man  doubts  o(,)  then  there 
may  be  many  things  truly  moral,  which  the  light  of  nature 
now  sees  not,  Iwcause  it  is  imp«rt*ect,  which  in  its  perfection  it 
did  see;  and  this  consideration  ot' the  great  im|>erf(«tiuii  of  ilia 
light  of  nature  is  alone  sufficient  forever  lo  stop  thei: 
and  silence  their  hearts,  who  go  abuul  to  make  an  imperfect 
light  and  law  of  nature  the  perfect  rule  and  only  n 
moral  duties,  and  who  make  so  narrow  a  limitation  of  that 
which  is  mond  to  that  which  is  thus  imperfectly  natural, 
not  now  tex  nala,  but  lex  data,  whieb  is  the  rule  of  moral  du 
[  the  whole  Scriptures  contain  the  pert'ect  rule  of  all  moral  aul 


and  suitableness  ii 

ti  such  a  law  is 

here  were  many  si 

Buret  moral  sina 

nor  could  have  it 

■en  by  the  light 

law  fell    upon    hi 

m  wiih   miglity 

;)  for  God  is   not 

bound  to  crook 

corrupt  minds    ai 

re  aclually  able 

THE  MORALITY   OF  THE  SABBATH.  45 

whether  man's  cormpted  and  imperfect  light  of  nature  see 
them  or  no.  It  is  a  common,  but 'a  most  perilous,  and  almost 
groundless  mistake  of  manj  in  this  controversy,  who,  when 
the  J  would  know  what  is  moral,  and  what  is  not  so,  of  such 
things  as  are  set  down  in  the  Scriptures,  thej  then  fly  to  the 
light  of  corrupt  nature,  making  it  to  be  the  supreme  judge  hereof, 
and  there  fall  to  examining  of  them,  whether  thej  are  seen  by 
the  light  of  nature  or  no,  which  is  no  less  follj  than  to  set  up 
a  corrupt  and  blind  judge  to  determine  and  declare  that  which 
M  moral,  to  make  the  perfect  rule  of  morality  in  Scripture  to  bow 
down  its  back  to  the  imperfection  and  weakness  of  nature,  to 
pull  out  the  sun  in  heaven  from  giving  light,  and  to  walk  by  the 
light  of  a  dim  candle,  and  a  stinking  snuff  in  the  socket  almost 
gone  out;  to  make  the  hornbook  of  natural  light  the  perfec- 
tion of  learning,  of  the  deepest  matters  in  moral  duties ;  to 
make  Aristotle's  ethics  as  complete  a  teacher  of  true  morality 
as  Adam's  heart  in  innocency;  and,  in  a  word,  to  make  man 
fallen,  and  in  a  manner  perfectly  corrupt  and  miserable,  to  be 
as  sufficiently  furnished  with  knowledge  of  moral  duties,  as 
man  standing,  when  he  was  perfectly  holy  and  happy.  Ima- 
gine, therefore,  that  the  light  of  nature  could  never  have  found 
out  one  day  in  seven  to  be  comely  and  most  meet  for  man 
to  give  unto  God ;  yet  if  such  a  proportion  of  time  be  most 
meet  for  man  to  give  to  God,  and  it  appears  so  to  be  when 
God  reveals  it,  it  may  and  should  then  be  accounted  a  moral 
law,  although  the  light  of  nature  left  in  all  men  could  never 
didcem  it.  The  schoolmen,  and  most  of  the  Popish  generation, 
not  considering  these  things,  (which,  notwithstanding,  are  some 
of  their  own  principles,)  have  digged  pits  for  themselves,  and 
made  snares  for  some  of  their  followers,  in  abolishing  the 
fourth  commandment  from  being  (in  the  true  sense  of  it) 
moral,  because  they  could  not  see  now  such  a  special  part 
of  time,  viz.,  a  seventh  part,  could  be  natural,  or  by  the 
light  of  corrupt  nature  discernible ;  which  things  so  discern* 
ible  they  sometimes  conclude  to  be  only  moral.  But  how  far 
the  light  of  corrupt  nature  may  discern  this  proportion  shall  be 
Fpoken  to  in  its  proper  place. 

Tke9i$  SO.  If,  lastly,  those  things  which  are  thus  commanded 
because  they  are  good  be  moral,  then  the  whole  decalogue  may 
hence  appear  to  be  the  moral  law  of  God,  because  there  is  no 
law  in  it,  which  is  therefore  good  only  because  it  is  commanded, 
but  is  therefore  commanded  because  it  is  good  and  suitable  to 
human  nature.  When  I  say,  suitable  to  human  nature,  I  do  not 
mean  human  nature  considered  absolutely,  but  relatively,  either 


I 
I 


in  relation  to  God,  or  relation  unto  man  :  for  not  only  the  light 
of  nature,  but  of  cotnmun  ttease  also,  bears  witness  tbat  every 
precppt  of  the  Beconil  lalile,  wherein  mnu  ta  considered  in  relii- 
lion  to  mitn,  is  thus  far  good ;  for  how  eoraely  and  good  is  it  to 
honor  pRrenIs,  to  be  tender  of  other  men's  lives  and  comforls,  to 
presene  one's  self  and  others  from  filthy  pol]llIion^:,  to  do  no 
wrong,  bat  all  the  good  we  can  to  other  men's  estates  1  etc.  Nor 
do  I  think  that  any  will  question  any  one  commandment  of  thia 
table  to  l>e  good  and  amiable  to  human  nature,  unless  it  be  some 
Nimrod  or  Brennus,  (that  professed  he  knew  no  greater  Jusiii'e 
than  for  the  elronger,  like  the  bigger  fishes  of  the  sea,  to  swallow 
up  the  lesser  in  case  they  be  hungry,)  or  some  Turkish  Tartar 
or  eannibnl,  or  some  surfeited  professor,  transformed  into  some 
licentious  opinionist,  and  so  grown  master  of  his  own  conscience, 
and  that  can  audaciously  outface  Ihe  ver)'  light  of  nature  and 

Qon  sense,  through  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  blinding 

lurdcning  his  heart.  And  if  the  commandments  of  the  second 
be  thus  far  good  in  themselves,  are  not  those  of  the  first 
table  much  more  ?  Is  love  to  man  (when  drawn  out  into  atl  the 
six  streams  of  the  second  table)  good  in  itself,  and  shall  not  love 
to  Go<l,  drawn  out  in  Ihe  four  precepts  of  the  first  table,  hs  the 
spring  from  whence  all  our  love  to  man  should  flow,  much  more  ? 
Are  Hie  streams  morally  sweet,  and  is  not  the  spring  itself  of  the 
same  nature?  I^ve  to  God  and  love  to  man  are  tlie  common 
principles  (saith  Aquinas  truly)  of  the  law  of  nature ;  and  all 
particular  precepts  (saith  he,  perhaps  unawares)  are  conclusiona 
flowing  from  these  principles,  out  of  Matt.  xxii.  And  are  th6 
principles  good  in  themselves  and  suitable  to  human  nature,  and 
do  not  all  Ihe  conclusions  participate  of  their  nature.  For  what 
are  all  particular  precepls  but  particular  unfoldings  of  love  to 
God  and  lore  to  man  ?  If  all  the  precepts  of  the  second  table 
be  moral,  which  do  only  coucern  man,  why  should  any  of  the 
first  fall  short  of  that  glory,  which  do  immediately  concern  God  ? 
Shall  man  have  six,  and  all  of  them  morally  good,  and  God  have 
but  four,  and  some  one  or  more  of  them  not  so  ?  Is  it  comely  and 
good  to  have  God  to  be  our  God  in  Ihe  first  commandment,  to 
worship  him  afler  bis  own  mind  in  the  second,  to  give  him  his 
worship  with  all  the  highest  respect  and  reverence  of  his  name  in 
the  third ;  and  is  it  not  as  comely,  good,  nnd  suitable  that  this 
great  God  and  King  should  have  some  munificent  day  of  state 
to  be  attended  on  by  his  poor  servants  and  creatures,  both  pub- 
licly nnd  privately,  with  special  respect  and  service,  as  oft  as 
himself  sees  meet,  and  which  wo  can  not  hut  see  and  confess  to 
be  moat  equal  and  just,  according  to  the  fourth  commandment? 


divided  into  labor  imd  rest,  is  il  not  equal 

uid  good,  if  we  have  six  dajs,  ihat  God  should  have  a  seventh  ? 

T  tbe  brute  beasts  could  speak,  thuy  would  buj  that  a  aevenlh 

.   a  good  for  them,    (Ex.  xxiii.  12;)    and  shall  man, 

>  balli  more  cause  and  more  need  of  real,  even  of  holy  rest, 

f  that  it  ia  not  good  for  faim  even  to  rest  in  tbe  bosom  of  God 

telf,  to  which  he  is  called  thb  daj?     Take  away  a  SabbathTI 

a  defend  us  from  atheism,  barbarism,  and  all  manner  of  I 

a  Mid  protaneness?    And  ia  it  evil  thus  to  want  it,  aiidj 

not  be  good  to  have  it  ?     I  confess,  if  Gud  had  com- 

1  a  perpetual  Subbaib,  it  bud  not  then  been  good,  but 

tie.  to  observe  any  set  Sabbalb ;  but  if  God  will  have  man  to 

r  for  himself  six  days,  and  this  labor  be  morally  good,  being 

*  commanded,  why  is  it  not  then  as  good  to  observe  a  seventh 

t  to  God,  being  also  commanded  of  him  ? 

rm  31.     It  is  therefore  at  least  an  indigested  assertion  of 

wbo  affinn  that  the  decalogue  sets  out  tbe  precepts  of  the 

'  of  nature,  and  yet  withal  doth  superadd  certain  precepts 

roper  to  tbe  Jewish  people;  in  which  last  respect  tbcy  suy  all 

I  bound  to  the  olnervance  thereof,  (and  they  produce 

!  fourth  cooimandment  fur  proof,)  but  in  respect  of  tbe  lirst 

But  although,  in  the  application  of  a  law,  something 

Y  be  pniper  to  the  Jewish   people,  yet  (with  leave  of  tbe 

med)  there  is  never  a  law  in  it  but  it  is  moral  and  common  to 

to  make  any  law  in  the  decalogue  proper  is  an  assertion 

g  from  a  false  and  blind  principle,  viz.,  that  that  law  only 

wliich  is  natural:  not  natural,as  suitable  to  human  nature, 

which  is  seen  and  known  by  the  common  light  of  corrupt 

re.  without  the  help  of  any  external  usher  or  teacher.     If 

3  any  laws  in  the  decalogue  be  proper,  how  will  any  Giid  out 

rem  moral  laws  which  concern  all,  from  proper  laws  which 

^risin  only  tusome?     Fur  if  God  huth  made  such  a  mingling, 

suveml  moral  laws  by  themselves,  then  man  hath  uo 

>vclBlion  by  any  distinct  and  severed  laws  left  unto  him, 

a  laws  proper  and  peculiar  from  laws  moral  and  com- 

Ni,  which  how  pernicious  it  may  be  to  dien's  souls  to  be  lell  to 

'  uncertainty,  as  also  how  injurious  to  God,  and  cross  to  lus 

)  eadi  in  discovering  moral  laws,  let  the  wise  consider ;  for 

y  uty  that  we  must  fly  for  help  herein  to  tbe  light  of  corrupt 

e,  then,  as  hath  been  shown,  an  imperfect  light,  and  a  blind 

Ic,  and  a  corrupt  judge  must  be  the  chief  rule  of  discerning 

tt  which  i*  moral  from  that  which  is  peculiar  and  pn)[>cr,  for 

wbltejM  such  a  kind  of  light  ii  tlie  light  of  corrupt  nature. 

:  7%tMii  SI.     Some  ttitnk  tlial  tliosu  comimmdmcnts  only  are 


I 


r 


I 

I 


48  TllK    MORALITY    DF   THE   SABBATH.  H] 

morally  good  whicli  llie  gos|>el  lialh  decUired  and  confirmed  lo  be 
BO ;  and  hj  ihia  shift  tliey  Ihink  lo  .tvoid  the  absurdity  of  flying 
to  the  blind  guide  of  corrupt  nulnre  to  judge  of  these  colors,  viz., 
what  is  moral  and  what  is  not.  Mr.  Primrose  therefore  eicludcB 
the  foarih  commandment  from  being  moral,  Ihe  other  ninu  being 
ratilied  by  the  light  of  the  gospel,  which  ihb  (he  SMtli)  is  not ; 
but  if  his  meaning  be,  tluit  there  must  be  a  general  ratification 
of  Inws  moral  by  the  verdict  of  the  gospel,  then  llie  fourth  com- 
mandment can  not  be  excluded  from  being  moral,  because  it  haih 
a  rat  ill  cat  ion  in  general  from  the  gospel;  for  therein  we  read  ihat 
the  moral  law  is  holy,  just,  and  good,  (Bom.  vii.,)  and  lhat  Christ 
carae  not  to  destroy  the  least  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law,  (Matt,  t.,) 
much  less  a  whole  law  of  the  fourth  commandment.  In  the  gos- 
pel also  God  promiscth  lo  write  his  law  upon  our  hearts,  wherein 
the  fourth  commandment  is  not  excepted.  But  if  his  meaning 
be  this,  that  ihe  gospel  must  particularly  mention,  and  so  make  a. 
)>articular  ratificatioD  (as  it  were)  by  name  of  every  moral  law, 
then  hJH  assertion  la  unsound ;  there  being  many  judicial  Uws  of 
Moses  of  which  some  are  wholly  moral,  others  containing  in  them 
something  of  common  and  moral  equity,  which  we  have  no  ex- 
press mention  of  in  the  blessed  gospel ;  and  let  him  turn  over  all 
the  leaves  of  the  gospel,  he  shall  not  And  that  proportion  of  lime, 
which  himself  affirms  lo  be  morel  in  the  fourth  commandment,  to 
be  expressly  and  particularly  mentioned  in  the  gospel ;  and  there- 
fore lhat  also  must  be  excluded  from  being  monil  upon  his  own 
principles,  as  well  as  what  we  contend  for  in  this  commandment 
«o  to  be./ 

77ie»it  33.  "  Some  of  those  who  maintain  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath  lo  be  ceremonial  affirm  that  every  law  in  the  decalogue 
is  not  moral,  upon  this  ground,  to  wit,  because  the  law  is  caUed 
God's  covenant,  which  covenant  they  show,  from  sundry  instances, 
not  only  to  comprehend  morals,  but  also  ceremonials ;  for  they 
make  it  the  excellency  of  the  decalogue  to  comprehend,  as  a  short 
epitome,  all  God's  ordinances,  both  moral  and  ceremonial,  which 
epitome  is  more  largely  opened  in  ihe  writings  of  Moses,  where 
not  only  moral,  but  also  ceremonial  laws  are  expressed  and  dis- 
persed. And  hence  ilicy  think,  that  as  the  other  nine  are  the 
Bummar}'  and  epitome  of  all  moral  ordinances,  so  the  fourth 
commandment,  which  was  kept  with  the  practice  of  ceremonies, 
was  the  summary  and  ejiitomc  of  all  the  ceremonial  ordinances, 
and  hence  the  fourth  commandment  becomes  ceremonial.  Bui 
for  answer  to  this  wily  notion,  unjustly  fathered  upon  Austin  and 
Calvin  by  some,  it  may  thus  far  be  granied,  that  as  the  woni  law 
is  sometimes  taken  more  strictly  for  Ihe  decalogue  only,  (Bom. 


I  Ri.  20 ;    Jamc«  iii.  8.]  unil  fomeiimes  more    largely.  Cur   the 

whole  doctrine  coiitniiied  in  all  ihR  irriliiigs  of  ibe  OM  Teala- 

I  nenl,  wherein  the  gospel  also  is  ctimpii'li ended.  (Ps.  six.  7  ;  cxixi 

[  1.  51,  37.)  BQ  ihe  wonl  eovttiaiit  is  sometimes  taken  more  Htrict- 

I  Iv  Tor  ilie  covenant  of  works,  nhich  is  contained  compendiouiity 

[  ill  the  decalogoe  only,  writ  by  ihe  finger  of  Gctd  in  two  labies, 

.  (Deul.  i*.  13,  14;  Ei.  xxsiv.  38,)  and  Bomatimes  more  largely 

I  lor  all  tlie  holy  writing*  of  Moses.  (Ex.  xxir.  7,  8,  and  xxxiv. 

Ler.  xxvi.  14.     Jer.  xxxiv.  13.)     Now,  although  all  the 

writings  of  Moses  may  be  called  iLe  covenant,  «*  it  is  largely 

taken,  and  so  the  covenant  comprehends  not  only  moral  but 

ceremonial  law?,  yet  they  are  never  called  that  covenant  which 

waa  writ  by   the  finger   of  God-  in   two  tobies  of  stone,   and 

given  to  Moses  ;  and  in  this  atrici  sense  the  word  covenant  com- 

prehcnds  no  other  laws  but  moral,  nor  can  the  places  and  texts 

which  they  allege  evince  the  contrary,  for,  in  that  place  of  £.x. 

xxiT.  7,  it  b  not  said  that  Ihe  inbles  of  the  covenant,  but  the 

I    book  of  the  covenant,  was  read  in  the  audience  of  all  the  peo- 

fit ;  which  book  we  readily  acknowledge  to  comprehend  cere- 

■loniab  aa  well  as  morals,  but  not  the  tables  of  the  covenant,  of 

which  Ihe  question  now  ie.     So  also  when  the  Lord  sailh  (Ex. 

}  xxxiv.  10)  tliiU  he  will  moke  a  covenant,  his  meaning  is,  that  ho 

I  iwill  revive  his  covenant  by  writing,  (as  it  is  there  set  down  in 

I   the  come  chapter.)  in  which  writing  it  is  very  true  that  there  is 

I    mention  made  of  many  ceremonial  laws  :  but  suppose  tliis  cov- 

k  «nant  written  by  Moses  comprehends  sundry  ceremonial  laws, 

\    will  it  ihcrvforo  follow  thai  the  tables  of  ihe  covenant  written 

I   with  the  fiiigrr  of  God  did  the  like  ?     No  such  matter  i  and 

I   therefore  there  is  an  express  difference  put  in  the  same  chapter, 

(ver.  37,  28,)  between  the  covenant  written  by  Moses,  and  the 

I  ten  nummaniimcnls  written  by  the  finger  of  God.     But  secondly, 

I  let  it  be  granted  that  the  decalogue  comprehends  aumroarily  all 

lite  laws  which  are  particularly  dis[>ersed  here  and  theru  in  the 

writings  of  Moses,  yd  it  doth  not  follow  that  there  must  be  one 

«Temonial  hiw  written  by  the  linger  of  God,  and  lifted  up  in  iho 

decalogue  to  be  the  epitome  and  summary  ot'  all   ceremonial 

k  laws  eWwhcre  explained  in  the  writings  of  Moses.     For  all 

I  laws,  wheilu-T  ceremonial  or  judicial,  may  be  referred  to  the 

k  drcaiogae.  as  apfieiidlcee  to  it,  or  applications  of  it.  and  so  to 

f  comprehend  all  other  laws  as  their  summary.     13ul  such  a  sum- 

f  nary  will  no  way  enforce  a  necessity  of  making  any  one  of  them 

b  the  Kpitouie  o1'  (.■ervmontuU,  and  the  other  nine  of  them  of  the 

I  norals,  for  we  know  iltnl  many  judieinl  laws  are  comprehended 

[  ander  nornl  laws,  being  referred  m  npjicndices  thereunto  .by 

I  VOL.  111.  i  ^ 


I 


I 


I 


Ctilvin,  MArl3'r,  Cheninitius,  Ames,  and  stundry  others ;  and  yet 
it  will  not  futlow  from  lience,  that  one  of  the  lav/a  in  the  dec- 
alogue must  be  a  judiciiil  law  as  the  sumniary  of  all  judicials, 
whii^li  are  brandies  of  the  covenant,  aa  well  as  Master  Primrose's 
ceremonials. 

T/trsi»  3-1.  It  should  not  seem  strange  tbal  that  law,  whicb  in  the 
general  nature  of  it  is  moral,  may,  in  the  particular  application 
ul'  il,  be  uuio  a  thing  ceremonial ;  and  in  this  respect  it  ean  not 
be  denied,  that  the  moral  law  may  comprehend  all  ceremonial 
laws  ;  but  il  will  not  hence  follow,  (as  Mr.  Primrose  infers,)  that 
one  law  in  the  decalogue  must  be  ceremonial  as  (he  head  and 
summary  of  all  ceremonial  taw^,  because,  we  say,  ceremonial  laws 
may  be  comprehended  under  some  moral  law,  as  special  appli- 
calioni  thereof;  c.  g.,  it  is  a  moral  law  to  worship  God  acconling 
U>  his  own  will,  and  not  nS\cr  man's  inventions,  as  the  second 
commandment  holds  it  forth.  Now,  in  the  application  of  this 
law,  the  Lord  points  out  his  own  inetiEuted  worship  in  sundry 
significant  ceremonies,  sacrifices,  sacraments,  elc. ;  which  partic- 
ular institutions  (though  ceremonial)  are  to  be  referred  imio,  and 
are  comprehended  under,  tlie  second  commandment,  which  is  a 
moral  law  -,  for  if  God  will  be  worshiped  with  his  own  worship 
according  to  Ihis  commandment,  then  it  is  necessary  for  the  Lord 
to  show  (and  chat  under  his  commandment)  what  those  institu-. 
tiona  he,  wherein  he  will  be  worshiped,  many  of  which  are  (xr- 
emonial,  which  are  therefore  directly  comprehended  here. 

T^etii  3b.  There  is  therefore  no  necessity  of  making  one 
law  in  the  decalogue  to  be  ceremonial,  that  it  may  be  the  sum- 
mary bead  of  all  ceremonials,  viz.,  because  ceremonials  aro 
branches  of  the  covenant,  which  is  the  decalogue  ;  for  upon  the 
like  ground,  there  must  be  one  judicial  law  abto  as  ihe  summary 
of  all  judicials,  nay,  one  evangelical  law  also  as  the  head  of  all 
evangelicals,  sprinkled  here  and  there  in  Moses'  writings,  of 
which  we  read,  (John  v.  43 ;  Rev.  x.  fr-B,  with  Dent.  xsx. 
12,  IH  i  Gul.  iii.  8,  with  Gen.  xii.  3  ;)  for  judicials  and  evangel- 
icals are  branches  of  the  covenant  as  well  as  ceremonials,  if  Mr. 
Primrose's  principle  he  true ;  but  if,  by  his  own  confession, 
nine  of  Cliem  arc  morale,  and  one  of  them  only  the  head  of  cer< 
emoniuls,  how  shall  judicial  and  evangelical  summaries  corae  in  ? 
which  either  he  must  make  room  for  in  the  decalogue,  or  ac- 
knowledge his  foundation  to  be  rotten,  upon  which  he  hath  built 
one  ceremonial  law  among  ihe  nine  morals. 

T/tm»  36,  It  is  true,  that  among  men  Ihe  same  boily  of  laws 
may  be  framed  up  of  divers  articles,  as  Mr.  Primrose  pleads :  but 
thai  the  decalogue  was  such  a  body  as  had  ceremonials  mixed 
wilJi  morals,  it  can  never  be  made  good  by  any  color  of  proof, 


THE  lIORALITr    OF  THE    SABBATH.  51 

except  it  be  that  which  we  have  shown  will  as  Rtrongjj  enforce 
an  iniroduclion  of  some  one  judicial  and  anolher  evangelical  law 
into  the  decaloguG,  as  well  as  one  cei'cmouial ;  but  such  a  con- 
fusion of  law  aud  gospel,  evRDgeliculs  and  judicial^,  ceremonials 
'•and   mornl-s  the  bles^  God  Rhhors;  for  il  neither  suits  with 
God's  n-isdom  and  end  in  giving  llie  law,  nor  yet  wiih  man's 
weakness,  (which  God  pilies,)  to  make  such  a  jumbling  and  cod- 
I  fiuioD  of  things  together ;  for  who  can  then  lell  what  law  is  moral, 
I  and  what  evangelical,  and  what  ceremonial,  unless  it  be  (ns  was 
■Iiawn)  by  flying  for  light  to  the  dictates  and  instinct  of  nature, 
•  to  show  gnto  poor  deceitful  man  what  laws  are  moral  and  what 
not.  wlierei[)  the  remedy  would  have  been  as  bait  as  the  disease. 
Theii*  37.     If  "  there  must  be  one  law  in  the  decalogue  cer- 
emonial, that  so  the  more  Authority  may  be  procured  hereby  (as 
Ur.  Primrose  pleads)  unto  all  God's  ordiminces,  and  therefore 
e  of  the  ceremonials  was  written  in  the  decalogue  with  God'a 
own  finger,  and  honored  with  the  like  prerogatives  as  the  moral 
s  were,  which  were  immediately  spokeo  by  God  himself," 
1  (if  this  reasoning  be  solid)  why  was  not  one  judicial  and 
[  uotfa«r  evangelical  precept  alike  honored  abo?     For  was  there 
L  not  ms  much  need  lo  procure  authority  to  this  as  well  as  to  cere- 
I  noniols?  And  yet  we  see  their  authority  was  sufficiently  procured 
I  irilboat  being  thuffied  into  the  decalogue,  and  so  might  ceremo- 
\  sialsKUo. 

T^etit  38.  There  were  three  sorts  of  laws  which  are  com- 
I  Bonly  known,  and  which  were  most  eminently  appearing  among 
f  tbc  Jews:  I.  Moral.     2.  Ceremonial.     3.  Judicial. 

7%<m  89.  The  moral  respected  their  manners  os  they  were 
tien,  and  arc  therefore  called  moral.  The  ceremonial  respected 
ban  as  a  church,  and  as  such  a  kind  of  chureh-  The  judicial 
■a  a  oomroonwcallh,  and  as  that  particular  commonwealth. 
Moral  laws  were  to  govern  them  as  a  human  society,  ceremonial 
u  a  Mcred  society.  Judicial  as  a  civil  society.  Thus  the  learned 
■peak,  and  being  oindidly  understood,  are  true. 

7%«fi'f  40.  The  moral  law,  contained  in  the  decalogue,  i* 
DOlbing  else  butjJiC'4»w.«{nature  revived,  or  a  second  edition 
and  impression  of  that  prTmJlive'  and~  perfect  law  of  nature, 
1  which  in  the  gtato  of  innocency  was  engraven  upon  man's  heart, 
I  Ibtit  now  again  written  upon  tables  of  stone,  by  the  Anger  of  God. 
K  For  man  being  made  in  the  image  of  God,  he  had  therefore  the  law 
|'«f  holiness  and  righteousness,  in  which  God's  image  consisted, 
I  Written  in  his  heart ;  but  having  hy  his  fall  broken  this  tabic,  nnci 
r  Imi  lhi>  image,  neither  knowing  nor  doing  the  will  of  God  through  i 
Klb«  law  of  sin  now  engraven  on  it,  hence  the  Lord  hath  in  much    ' 


I 


pily  made  known  hi?  Irw  airiiiii,  Bi^d  pivcn  us  n  fair  copy  of  it 
)u  the  tWQ  iiibles  of  alone,  wliit;h  are  ihe  rapy  of  that  which  wm 
writ  upon  innn'^  heart  at  Hrst,  beciiifsc  the  Ui'dt  labte  cooiaifig  love 
to  Go<l  in  tioliness,  the  second  love  to  auui  in  rishlmusness ; 
which  holineea  and  righteousness  are  the  two  parts  of   God's 

■  image  whicli  was  once  enjTravcn  upon  man's  soul,  in  his  primi- 
Itive  and  perfect  estate.  (Kph.  iv.  2-1.)/  Nor  indeed  do  I  see 
mU(F*thal  Popish  argument  will  be  otherwise  answered,  jileading 

for  B  possibiliiy  in  man  to  keep  the  law  perfectly  in  his  lapsed 
and  fallen  estate  in  (hid  life,  for,  say  Ihcy,  God  makes  no  laws  of 
impossible  things,  it  being  unjust  for  God  to  require  and  exact 
that  of  a  man  whieh  he  is  not  able  to  do ;  to  which  it  is  com- 
moldy  and  truly  answered,  that  man  had  once  power  to  keep  the 
law  in  his  innocent  estate,  and  hence,  though  man  he  not  able  to 
keep  it  now,  yet  God  may  require  it,  because  he  once  gave  him 
power  to  keep  it;  and  that  therefore  it  is  no  more  unjust  lo exact 
such  obedience  which  he  can  not  perform,  Ilian  for  a  creditor  to  re- 
quire his  money  of  his  broken  debtor,  or  spendthrift,  who  ie  now 
failed,  (as  they  say.)  and  not  able  to  repay.  Man,  therefore, 
y  having  once  power  to  keep  the  law,  and  now  having  no  power,  this 
V  argues  strongly  that  the  law  of  the  decalogue  contains  nothing 
\but  what  vrae  once  written  as  a  law  of  life  upon  his  heart  in  his 
pHnocenl  estate ;  for  I  see  not  how  God's  Justice  can  be  cleared, 

■  if  he  exacts  such  obedience  in  the  decalogue  which  is  impossible 
for  man  to  give,  unless  the  very  same  law  and  power  of  obedience 
was  written  upon  his  heart  at  first;  and  therefore  it  is  a  wild 
notion  of  theirs  who  think  tlial  the  covenant  of  works  which  Grod 

F  mode  with  Adam  is  not  the  same  for  matter  with  the  covenant 
^  I  of  works  expressed  in  the  moral  law  ;  for  we  see  that  lliere  is 
Hi!?  same  image  of  holiness  and  righteousness  required  iu  the 
tables  of  stone,  as  the  condition  of  this  covenant,  which  was  once 
written  upon  man's  heart,  and  required  in  the  same  maimer  of 
him.  Now,  this  law,  thus  revived  and  reprinted,  is  the  deca- 
logue, because  most  natural  and  suitable  ti 
it  was  made  most  perfect ;  therefore  ii 
ual  i  the  substance  also  of  this  law  be 
holiness  toward  Grod,  and  righteousness  toward  man.  (Mat 
37,  3!).  Luke  i.)  Hence  also  this  law  must  needs  be  moral,  uni- 
versal, and  perpetual,  unless  any  should  be  so  wicked  as  to  imagine 
it  to  be  no  duly  of  universal  or  perpetual  equity,  either  to  love  God 
or  to  love  man,  to  perform  duties  of  holiness  toward  the  one  or 
duties  of  righleousoess  toward  the  other.  Hence,  again,  the 
things  commaiiiled  in  this  law  are  therefore  coragiauded  because 
they  are  good,  and  are  therefore  moral,  unless  any  shall  think 


1 


1  nature,  whei 
<  universal  and  perpet- 
;  love  to  God  and  man. 


TOE   MOIf.VLtTV    OF  TOK   6A1!B.VTII.  53 

Ih&l  it  i»  nor  good  in  ilsoir  la  love  Goil  or  mnn,  to  be  holy  or 
ighteoQ* :  and  which  is  ^till  ob^^ervable,  ilici'e  is  Ruuh  a  love 
required  Iieri.-in,  and  ^iidi  a  loveliness  put  upon  these  laws,  as 
ihai,  by  virtue  of  these,  all  our  obedience  in  other  things  which 
ftre  not  moral  becomes  lovely  ;  for  there  were  many  ceremonial 
obMrvances,  in  whieh  and  by  which  the  people  of  God  expressed 
ihfir  love  to  God,  as  SI.  Primrose  truly  concludes  from  Deut. 
u  l-6,Nnd  Matt.  xsii.  37,  a8,40;  but  yet  Ibis  love  did  arise  by 
virtue  of  a  moral  rule,  for  iheretbre  it  was  lovely  to  worship 
God  in  ceremonial  dutie*,  because  it  was  lovely  to  worship 
God  with  bi»  own  worship,  {of  which  these  were  parts,)  which  is 

~  tlie  moral  rule  of  the  second  commandment.  And  hence  M. 
Primrose  may  see  his  gross  mistake  in  mnkinp:  one  law  of  the 

•  decalogue  cert^monial,  because  the  summary  of  the  dcealogue 
bring  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  and  our  love  to  God  being 
ibown  in  ceremonial  as  well  as  in  moral  duties,  because  our  love 
Is  seen  and  ^hown  in  our  obedience  to  ail  the  commundraeDts  of 
God.  ceremonial  as  well  as  moral.  For  though  there  be  love  in 
Mremonial  duties,  it  is  not  so  ranch  in  respect  of  themselves  as 
In  resperl  of  some  moral  rule,  by  virtue  of  which  such  duties  are 
attended.  _ 

77if$i*  \\.  The  ceremonial  law,  consisting  chiefly  of  types 
ind  shadows  of  things  to  come,  (Heb,  viii.  5.)  and  therefore 
bcmg  to  cease  when  the  body  was  come,  (Ool.  ii.  17,)  was  not 
therefore  perpetual,  (as  the  law  monil,)  but  tempoi;pry,  and  of 
binding  power  only  to  the  nation  of  the  Jews  and  iheir  proselytes, 
■nil  not  putting  any  tie  upon  all  nations,  as  the  moral  law  did. 
Every  ceremonial  law  was  lem]H)niry,  but  every  terapomry  law 
was  not  ceremonial,  (aa  some  Kay,)  us  is  demonstrable  from  sun- 
dry judicials,  which  in  their  determinations  were  proper  to  that 
nation,  while  the  .lewish  [lolity  continued,  and  are  not,  therefore, 
DOW  lo  be  observitl.  ^^ 

7%t$i»  42.  The  judicial  laws,  some  of  them  being  hedges 
and  fnnc^  to  safeguard  both  moral  and  ceremonial  precepts, 
their  binding  power  was  therefore  mixed  and  various,  for  those 
trhicfi  did  Mfeguard  any  moral  law,  (which  is  per[>cIUHl.)  whether 
by  just  punishments  or  otherwise,  do  still  morally  bind  all  na- 


I 


a  the/ 


s  as  then,  and  there  is  as  much  need  u 


the  ptwervation  of  these  fences  to  preserve  these  laws  in  these 
tlm«s,  and  at  all  times,  m  well  as  then,  there  being  as  much  dan- 
ger of  the  treading  down  of  those  laws  by  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
world  and  bruii»h  men  (sometimes  even  in  churches)  now  aaV 


then ;  and  henciyGod  would  have  all  nations  preserve  their  fenceal 


forever,  as  he  would  have  ibat  law  preserved  forever  which 
the«e  aafei;unrd ;  hut,  on  the  oilier  aide,  ihe^e  judteials  which  did 
gnfeguard  ceremoniHl  laws  which  we  know  were  not  perpetual, 
but  proper  lo  thai  nation,  hence  Ihose  judieinle  which  compass 
lliese  ahoul  are  not  perpelual  nor  universal ;  the  ceremoniala 
llieiiig  plucked  up  hy  their  roots,  lo  what  purpose  then  should  their 
llences  and  hedges  sianU  ?  As,  on  tlie  conlniry,  the  morals  abid- 
ing, why  should  nut  their  judiciaJs  and  fences  remikin?  The 
learned  generally  douhi  not  to  affirm  that  Aluseii'  jiidicials  bind 
all  naliona,  so  lar  forth  as  they  contain  any  moral  equity  in 
them,  which  moral  equity  doih  appear  not  only  in  respect  of 
the  end  of  the  law,  when  it  is  ordered  for  common  and  univer- 
■nl  good,  but  chleHy  in  res|>cct  of  the  law  which  they  safeguard 
and  fence,  which  if  it  be  moral,  it  is  most  just  and  e(]ual,  that 
either  the  same  or  like  judicial  fence  (according  to  some  fit  pro- 
portion) should  preserve  it  still,  beeause  it  is  but  just  and  equal 
thai  a  moral  and  universal  law  should  be  universally  preserved ; 
from  whence,  by  the  way,  the  weakness  of  their  rea^oniugs  may 
>>e  observed,  who,  that  they  may  take  away  tlie  power  of  the 
civil  magistrate  in  matters  of  the  first  table,  (which  once  he  lind 
in  the  Jewish  commonwealth,)  alfirni  that  such  civil  power  then 
did  arise  from  the  judicial,  and  not  from  any  moral  law  ;  when- 
Bs  it  is  manifciit  Uiat  this  his  power  in  preserving  God's  worship 
]iure  from  idolatrous  and  profane  mixtures,  according  to  the 
judicial  laws,  was  no  more  but  a  fence  and  safeguard  set  about 
moral  commandments  ;  which  fences  and  preservatives  are  there- 
fore (for  substance)  lo  continue  in  as  much  power  and  authority 
now  as  they  did  in  those  days,  as  long  as  such  laws  continue  in 
iheir  morality,  which  these  preserve;  the  duties  of  the  first  table 
being  also  as  much  moral  as  those  of  the  second,  lo  the  preserv- 
ing of  which  latter  from  hurt  and  spoil  in  respect  of  their  mo- 
rality, no  wise  man  questions  the  extent  of  his  power. 

TXesi'f  43.  If,  therefore,  the  question  be  now  made  whelher 
the  law  of  (he  fourth  commandment  be  moral  or  nu,  we  must 
then  remember  that  the  true  state  of  the  question  is  not  in  this, 
lo  wit,  whether  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  be  a  priuciple  of  the 
light  of  nature,  known  and  evident  of  itself,  or  at  least  such 
HE  every  man  that  hath  the  use  of  reason  may  reitdily  find  out 
without  some  external  revelation,  (as  Mr.  Ironside  injuriously 
slities  it.  wrestling  herein  with  his  own  shadow,  with  many 
others  of  bis  fellowship  in  this  controversy.)  For  moiiitity  (as 
hath  been  declured)  is  of  larger  extent  than  such  a  naturulity. 
But  ihe  question  is,  whether  it  is  one  of  those  laws,  which  is 
therefore  cummmaudeU  because  it  is  holy,  just,  and  good  in  itself. 


as 


whether  man  see  it  by  any  previous  Ijglii  of  corrupt  natnr^ 
ay  or  no  ;  and  being  Ihus  crunmiiiided  tn  sui-li  a  law,  wliether  it 
)>«  nni  iherctbre  of  jierpetual  anil  univcrsiil  obliguIJoD,  binding 
all  natbns  and  perwnd  in  all  ages,  in  their  hcaria,  livtss,  niaonen^ 
In  ifae  ob^ei'vnnce  thereof,  as  a  part  of  that  lioliuese  we  ow 
God,  and  which  God  requires  of  men  according  to  niles  of  morale 
equity  :  or,  on  tlie  conlrary,  whether  it  be  not  rulher  a  tjpica(^ 
ceremonial,  liguralive,  and  tempomry  precept,  binding  only  sonaA 
(■erisons,  or  that  one  nation  of  the  Jews  fur  some  time,  from  ihs 
obedience  of  which  law  Christiana  (in  respect  of  any  law  of  God) 
ntiB  now  exempted. 

TTirgit  44,  For  clearing  up  whereof  it  may  not  be  aroisB  Uf 
1:ike  notice  of  the  agreement  (at  lea^t  in  word^}  herein,  on  aHr 
Lands,  even  by  those  who  oppose  (hat  morality  of  tlie  Sabbatk 
which  we  plead  for.  All  sides  agree  in  this,  viz.,  that  the  lair 
of  ibia  fourth  commandment  concerning  the  Sabbath  is  moraL. 
Bat  aa  the  ditTerenci's  about  the  meaning  of  Tu  e«  Petrut  are' 
man^.  so  here  the  dillii^uUy  lies  to  know  how,  and  in  what  sensfr 
nnd  respect,  it  may  be  called  moral ;  for  3U.  Ironside  expressly' 
consents  in  ihi?,  viz.,  "  iliitl  all  the  coromnndtnenls  of  the  dcca*' 
logne  are  moral,  but  every  one  in  his  proportion  and  degree 
and  «o  (suiih  he)  is  that  of  the  Sabbath  ;  it  is  moral  for  suhslonca^ 
bat  not  for  circumstance. 

"  Sbster  Primrose  also  (when  he  is  awalie)  expressly  confess- 
eth  thus  much,  viz.,  that  the  Sabbath  is  moral  in  its  foundalioo, 
end.  morrow,  and  principal  substance ;  and  that  a  stinted  time  ia 
muntl.  and  grounded  on  the  principles  of  nature ;  and  therefore 
ifae  Gentiles  (saith  he)  had  their  set  day^  of  religion ;  and  this 
(he  tells  as)  is  ratified  by  the  gospel,  wliich  commendeth  to  the 
faithful  the  assembling  of  themselves  together  for  word  and 
sacmmenis,  and  CDnscifuenily  tUitt  iliey  have  appointed  timet' 
lo  attend  upon  them,  wliercin  the  word  of  God  be  read  and 
preached  as  under  the  Old  Tesinmcni  every  Sabbalh  day;  nay, 
he  yields  yet  more,  viz.,  that  not  only  stinted  timep,  but  tiiat 
niao  there  should  be  a  convenient  pro|x)rlion  and  suiruble  fre- 
fpvnry  of  time  for  God's  service,  now  under  the  gospel  as  under 
liie  luw  ;  and  therefore  atlirms  that  the  Jewish  annual  feasts  and 
new  moons,  being  but  once  a  year  or  once  a  month,  und  so  being 
rare  and  w-ldum,  could  nut  teach  us  the  couvctiicnt  and  most 
suilai>le  frequency  of  God's  public  service,  as  the  Sabbath  did^. 
which  retorned  weekly  ;  and  therefore  be  aaith  that  ihe  com* 
niandmcot  runs  not  thus,  viz..  Remember  to  keep  the  new  moon% 
but.  Remember  to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day.  80  that  by  U> 
PriainMe's  cuucesaioo.  nut  only  a  time,  but  a  atinled  time,  not  only 


THE   MOnAI.ITY    Olf  THE   SABBATH. 

iDled  time,  bul  al.'io  such  a  conTc^oient  proporlion  and  suitable 
frequency  of  lime,  as  is  once  in  seven  days,  is  morally  holy  by 
I  virtue  of  Ihe  f'ouMli  commaiidtiieiit. 

"  GoRianis  oLio  condudeB  (bnt  tbe  public  worsbtp  of  God,  re- 
I  ^ired  in  the  fourlh  commandment,  calls  for  observation,  liot 
I  only  of  certain,  but  nl?o  of  sufficieni  days  for  worship ;  and  what 
Aege  sufficient  days  be,  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  fourth  com- 
nuuidment,  iiiz.,  that  they  be  not  more  rare  and  less  frequent 
than  the  weekly  Sabbatha  of  tbe  Itiraelile^,  because,  if  God  (as 
he  shows)  challenged  a  weekly  Sabbath  of  a  stiff-necked  people 
laden  with  the  bunien  of  many  other  festivals  and  ceremoniej^, 
how  then  should  Christians,  freed  frou  their  yokes  and  bur- 
dens, have  ihem  less  frequent  ?  " 

Master  Breervrood  also  lo  Ibe  like  purpose  professelh,  that 
Chriatiann  should  not  be  less  devout  and  religious  in  celebrating 
Ihe  Lord*e  day  than  the  Jews  were  in  celebrating  their  Sabbath  ; 
and  his  reason  (laboring  with  some  spice  of  a  contradiction)  is 
this,  viz.,  because  the  obligation  of  our  ihankfulness  to  Giid  is 
more  than  theirs,  although  the  oblignlion  of  his  commandment 
lo  us  in  that  behalf  is  less  ;  fur  I  confess  it  is  beyond  my  shallow- 
ness to  conceive  iiow  the  thankfulness  should  be  more,  and  the 
commandment  less,  unless  he  will  imagine  some  such  Popish 
work  as  exceeds  the  command. 

WalltBus  comes  almost  quite  over  the  threshold  unto  us,  and 
maintains,  upon  solid  arguments,  "that,  by  the  force  and  analogy 
of  ihis  fourth  commandment,  all  the  (rue  worshipers  of  God 
are  bound  to  the  euict  observation  of  one  day  in  the  circle  and 
compass  of  seven  ; "  and  then  he  produceth  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
both  ancient  fathers  and  ihe  chief  of  our  kle  reformers,  tes- 
tifying [0  the  same  morality  of  one  day  in  »ei'en,  which  him- 
self maintains ;  that  whoever  shall  read  him  herein  would  won- 
der how  it  should  i-ver  enter  into  the  hearts  of  learned  men  (as 
White,  Rogers,  Dow,  tbe  historian,  and  many  others)  to  imagine 
and  go  about  lo  befool  the  World,  as  if  ihe  moratily  of  a  seventh 
day  was  the  lale  and  sour  fruit  growing  out  of  the  crabbed  and 
rigid  slock  of  some  English  Purilatis  and  reformers,  wherein  they 
ore  forsaken  of  all  iheir  fellows,  whom  in  all  other  things  they 
so  much  admire  in  oilier  reformed  churches.  It  being  therefore 
confessed  on  all  bands  thai  the  Sabbath  is  moral,  (though  I  con- 
fess at  other  times  our  adversaries  unsay  this,  at  least  in  their 
arguments,)  the  controversy  therefore  only  lies  in  this,  viz.,  how 
and  in  what  respect  it  should  be  so. 
I  Tlteti*  45.  The  general  consent  herein  also  is  this,  lo  wit, 
I  liiat  the  morality  of  the  Sabbath  chiefly  is  in  respect  of  some 


THE   UOnAl-ITT   OF   THK   S*BRATH.  S7 

generality,  or  in  respect  of  something  which  in  mare  general  in 
ihis  commandment,  rather  than  in  respeut  of  th«t  particular  day 
which  the  commandment  doth  also  point  at ;  far  if  the  morality 
of  it  (lid  lie  in  observing  that  particular  day  only,  faow  could  there 
be  a  change  of  tlmt  day  to  another?  For  if  the  morality  of  a 
Subbath  wm  liniiied  unto  a  particularity,  or  to  that  one  partit>- 
olar  day,  it  is  then  impossible  that  any  other  day  to  which  that 
first  is  changed  should  be  moral  by  virtue  of  the  xame  command- 
ment ;  but  we  shall  show  in  tit  place,  that  the  day  is  lawfully 
changed,  and  morally  observed,  and  therefore  that  which  is  in 
thi*  commandment  firstly  moral  miut  of  necessity  be  somewhat 
more  general. 

7Ti<«>  4G,  The  general  which  we  acknowledge  to  he  moral 
in  this  command  (rightly  understood)  is  a  seventh  day.  Our'. 
adverMiries  would  make  it  more  general,  and  resolve  it  into  a 
day  or  some  day  for  solemn  worship;  yet  when  they  are  forced 
to  we  and  acknowledge,  by  the  dint  of  argument,  that  this  is  loo 
general,  because  thus  the  commandment  may  be  observed,  if  one 
day  in  a  thousand,  or  once  in  one's  life  it  be  sanctified,  they  do, 
tlicreforc,  many  times  come  nearer  to  us,  to  somewhat  less  gen- 
end  than  a  day,  viz.,  lo  a  stinted,  filed,  and  appointed  day,  and 
to  siicli  an  appointed  day  as  contains  such  a  aufllcient  proportion 
of  time  for  God,  with  convenient  frequency,  no  less  frequent 
than  thein  in  the  Old  Testament,  which  was  every  seventh  day, 
as  may  be  seen  Thess.  i.  44 ;  and  truly,  thus  much  being  ac- 
knowledged by  tbem,  one  would  think  that  the  controversy  (with 
this  sort  of  men)  was  brought  unto  a  comfortable  and  quiet  is^ue 
and  full  agreement ;  but  it  is  strange  to  see  how  contrary  the 
langtwge  b  of  these  men  sleeping,  from  what  it  is  when  they  are 
Awake.  They  strike  fiercely  at  a  seventh  day,  and  a  determinate 
timo,  at  impossible  to  be  moral,  when  they  meet  with  them  in 
the  dark,  and  yet  we  see  acknowledge  them  (in  effect)  to  be 
manJ,  when  they  meet  with  them  sometimes  in  the  lighi. 

7%«tii  47.  But  because  a  seventh  day  may  be  accounted  con- 
venient by  some,  and  moral  byothers,aiid  because  the  determina- 
tion of  it  may  be  made  by  some  either  more  lai  or  narrow,  vii., 
either  to  any  in  seven,  which  man  or  the  church  may  appoint, 
or  to  such  a  seventh  day  as  God  shall  determine,  it  is,  iherc- 
forr,  neudfui,  for  the  clearing  up  of  this  controversy,  to  seek  out. 
with  an  impartial  and  sober  mind,  the  true  meaning  of  the  fourth 
commandment,  and  to  inquire  more  iiarticularly  and  euiutly 
what  is  required  in  it,  and  what  is  commanded  by  virtue  of  it, 
wUcli  tome  able  men.  not  taking  a  right  observation  of  in  the 
dark  aw)  lemgwsiuous  times  of  controversy,  have  therefore  made 


I 


miserable  shipwreck,  not  only  of  tlie  iriilh,  but  al*o  of  (beiD- 
eelres,  antl  souls  of  otliurs. 

TTiesis  48.  Tlie  tilings  wUioh  are  momlly  enjoined  iii  thU  com- 
mandment nre  these  two ;  — 

1.  Some  iLingg  are  Primario,  i.  e.,  primnrilj,  firstly,  and  more 
generally  morul. 

2>  Some  Iliin^  are  Secundariu  ;  i.  o^  secondarily,  dcriTatirely, 
and  conscquetiliy  moral. 

A  time,  h  day,  a  seventh  day  of  rest  are  in  the  first  respect 
moral,  but  in  the  other  respect  this  or  that  particular  Geventh 
day  may  be  said  to  be  moral.  Things  primarily  moral  are  per- 
petual ;  things  secondarily  moral  are  not  necestsarily  so.  As,  for 
example,  to  honor  superiors  and  fathers,  whether  of  common- 
*  wealth  or  family,  is  primarily  moral ;  hut  to  honor  these  or  those 
particular  superiors  is  secondarily  moral,  because  our  honoring 
of  them  ariselh  from  that  primary  and  general  law  of  moral 
equity,  viz.,  that  if  our  falhers  are  lo  be  honored,  then,  in  the 
second  place,  it  follows,  tliat  these  and  those  particular  persons, 
being  our  lawful  fathers,  are  to  be  honored  also.  To  honor  our 
fatliers  whom  God  hath  set  over  us  is  perpetual ;  to  honor  these 
or  those  particular  fathers  is  not  perpetual,  because  themselves 
are  not  perpetual,  but  changeable.  It  was  a  moral  duly  to  honor 
this  particular  King  David,  but  it  was  not  perpetual ;  for  wtien 
David  was  taken  away,  ihey  were  not  bound  to  honor  King  Duvid 
KDj  more,  when  King  Solomon,  bis  son,  became  liis  successor : 
nor  was  it  a  ceremonial  duty  to  honor  this  or  that  particular 
king,  because  it  ivaa  changeable  from  one  lo  another,  but  it  was  a 
moral  duty  so  to  do ;  wherein  the  law  and  rule  is  not  changed, 
(it  being  primarily  moral,)  but  only  the  object,  which  we  are 
bound  to  honor  secondarily  in  respect  of  the  general  rule.  So  it 
is  in  this  law  of  the  Sabbath/  To  keep  a  day,  a  seventh  day's 
Sabbath,  is  perpetual,  it  being  primarily  moral;  but  to  observe 
this  or  tliat  particular  day  is  of  ilself  changeable,  being  seconda- 
rily moral ;  for  if  it  be  a  moral  duty  to  sanctify  a  seventh  day 
which  God  shall  appoint,  then  it  is  moral,  (as  it  were,)  in  the 
second  place,  to  sanctify  this  or  that  seventh  interchangeably 
which  God  doth  appoint ;  and  yet  it  doth  not  follow  that  this 
-or  that  particular  seventh  is  in  itself  ceremonial,  because  it  is 
changeable  ;  for  in  such  a  change  the  moral  rule  is  not  changed, 
■  but  the  moral  object  only,  lo  which  it  is  morally  applied :  the 
duty  is  not  changed,  but  only  the  day ;  and  in  this  respect  it 
should  not  seem  hard  to  make  some  things  moral  which  are  not 
perpetual  ;  for  laws  primarily  moral  are  properly  perpetual,  but 
laws  secondarily  moral,  not  necessarily  so,  but  changeable,  b»- 


I 


Tilt:  uouALiTir  ov  Tiit:  sah[(.iti[.  51) 

CKUM.  aa  harh  been  wiid,  berein  ihere  id  no  cliange  of  the  rule, 
but  oalv  of  ibe  object  or  a]>plicatioti  of  the  rule,  wliii^h  mHiy  bo 
variously  and  yet  morally  observed, 

nesit  iS.  This  dUiinctioQ  of  things  primurily  and  secoitda- 
rily  moral  Ls  taken  from  tlie  truth  of  ihiag^j,  and  n'hich  tlioae 
who  study  this  conlroverey  will  see  iiieinseives  forced  unlo  by 
the  shifts  and  fuUaciea  of  the  adversitrics  of  the  truth  herein  ;  the 
Cominandmenid  of  God  are  exceeding  brond.  according  to  David'a 

,  measure,  (Pi.  cxix.  96,)  and  very  eumprehen^ive,  and  hence 
the  generals  include  many  particulars,  and  eometinies  tbe  par- 

,  ticulare  have  a  special  respect  to  ibiogs  more  general,  as  is  evi- 
dent in  the  Mcond  and  Sfth  commiUidmeutB,  whitrh  synecdoche 

I   Ifr.  Broad  acknowledgeth  to  be  in  all  other  commaods  except 

'    Ibe  Sabbath,  wherein  he  will  have  no  general  understood,  but 

*   only  a  comroandinent  to  obsorre  that  particular  day  only,  that  eo 

'  he  may  go  one  step  farther  tlian  some  of  hi:j  betters,  and  utterly 
Rboli«h  the  morality  of  thb  commaud ;  but  whether  this  com- 
naodmcMit  ia  so  narrowly  restrained,  will  appear  more  fully  iii 

r   showing  the  truth  of  this  distinction  out  of  the  coinmnndment 

I    moru  particularly. 

.  Tketit  50.  Those  things  first  which  are  primarily  and  more 
generally  moral,  and  morally  eommanded,  are  these  three :  — 

'        1.  That  there  be  some  solemn  t-onvenient  time  set  apart  for 

'    GudV  worship. 

8.  That  tJiis  time   be  not  any  small  pittance  of  time,  but  a 

I  •olrmn  day  of  worshi|i,  bearing  the  most  meet  proportion  to  those 
days  man  hnih  fur  himself. 

3.  Thai  this  day  be  not  any  day  indelinilely  which  man  sees 
meet,  but  (as  it  is  in  the  commandment)  the  Sabbatb  or  rest 
day,  whicli  God  himself  interprets  and  determines  to  a  seventh 

iiome  of  our  adversaries  in  this  controversy  will  not  acknowl- 
1  eilg«  any  »et  lime  or  day  to  be  moral  by  virtue  of  this  command- 
I  mvnx.  because  they  tliink  tliat  that  panicuhtr  seventh  day  from 
the  creation  ia  only  eommanded,  but  now  abolished  under  the 
gmpel ;  and  it  only  is  commanded  (they  suy)  because  it  is  only 
[  cspresavd  and  mmle  mention  of  in  the  commandment.  I  confesa 
L  that  thai  particular  seventh  is  expressed  and  jxiinted  at,  but  not 
[  only  ezprossod,  (as  we  shall  show  in  fit  plan; ;)  but  suppose  it 
I  wvre  granted,  that  that  seventh  only  is  exprcased,  yet  it  will  not 
I  IbDow  that  therefore  a  seventh  <lay,  and  consequently  a  day,  and 
I  KaMequmlly  a  time  uf  worship,  is  excluded ;  for  look,  as  it  is  in 
I  llw  iHKund  cummiuidmenl,  we  see  the  worship  of  a 


I 
1 


f  b  [NUllcuUrly  t< 


I,  and  yet  that  which  i 


aven  image 
c  general  19 


I 


m 


:  OF  ' 


AKUAl'll 


I 


itho  herein  forbidden,  xiz.,  the  worship  ot'  God  b]/  human  inven- 
tions :  and  why  may  not  the  like  general  be  enjoined  by  com- 
mitnding  ihai  pariiculiir  siwenth  in  the  fourth  roramandment  ? 
Others  of  our  adversnries,  on  the  contrary,  acknowledge,  there- 
fore, that  in  this  particular  seventh  (which  they  make  ceremo- 
nial) something  more  general  and  moral  is  herein  required  ;  but 
this  general  they  limit  lo  a  time  or  some  day  of  worship,  but  it 
Bevenih  day  which  is  more  general  than  that  particular  seventh, 
yet  less  general  than  a  day  or  lime,  they  fly  from  this  ns  from 
some  serpent  or  bugbear,  and  will  not  admit  it  oa  any  thing  gener- 
ally  moral  in  this  commandment.  But  it  ia  very  observable  in 
this  conlroverey,  that  upon  the  earae,  grounds  on  which  ihey 
would  exclude  this  general  of  a  seventh  from  being  moral,  they 
may  as  well  exclude  their  own  generals,  viz.,  a  time  or  a  day, 
from  being  moral ;  for  if  they  think  it  irrational,  that  because  a 
particulnr  seventh  day  is  required,  that  therefore  a  seventh  day 
more  general  can  not  be  commanded,  why  is  it  not  as  irratioruU, 
upon  the  same  ground,  to  exclude  a  time,  a  day,  also  ?  Surely  a 
seventh  day  lies  nearer  the  bosom  of  a  particular  seventh,  and  is 
of  nearer  kin  to  it  than  a  day.  And  I  marvel  lliat  they  should 
gather  a  solemn  time  and  day  of  worship,  which  Is  more  gen- 
eral, rather  than  a  seventh  out  of  that  particular  day,  as  nut 
possibly  to  be  intended,  although  in  a  manner  expressed  in  the 
commandment  itself.  I  know  there  are  some  who  think  that 
there  is  nothing  generally  moral  in  this  commandment  but  a 
seventh  day ;  which  unless  it  be  well  and  warily  explicated,  I 
then  crave  leave  to  concur  thus  fur  with  our  adversaries,  viz., 
(hat  a  solemn  time,  and'  a  day  of  worship,  are  generally  moral  in 
this  command,  but  not  only  moral,  but  that  a  eeventh  diky  also 
which  God  shall  determine  is  gcuerally,  yea,  principally  moral 
also,  in  this  commandment 

T/uM  51.  First,  therefore,  tliat  which  is  moat  generally 
moral  in  this  command  is  that  which  is  called  tempiii  culiia,  or 
the  time  of  worship :  now,  this  time  must  either  be  indeterminate 
time,  which  necessarily  attends  all  acts  of  worship  and  duties  of 
piety,  or  else  determinate  and  solemn  time.  Indeterminate  time 
ia  nut  required  here,  because  to  make  a  special  commandment 
about  such  a  time  would  he  both  needless  and  ridiculous  ;  for  if 
it  be  impossible  that  any  duty  should  be  performed  without  such 
.  time,  then  wherever  that  duty  is  required,  the  time  which  neces- 
sarily attends  it  must  he  supposed  and  enjoined  in  the  some  com- 
mandment. Some  determiuHle  and  solemn  time  is,  therefore, 
herein  gen i? rally,  though  not  only,  commanded. 

Thetit  bi.     It  is  a  scruple  to  »ime  to  know  to  what  command- 


neat  soleaiTi  time  should  be  referred  ;  to  which  the  answer  is 
-that  ihe  same  things  may  be  velen-eil  in  several  respects 
■Bio  seferai  oommandmentii,  »nd  so  may  this.  SoleniD  lime  may 
be  referred  to  ibe  second  comniandmeRt,  where  eolemn  worship 
(in  respect  of  the  means  of  worship)  is  required,  in  some  respect 
to  the  first  commiuidmcnt,  which  requiring  us  to  M^knowledge  God 
r  rovereign  I^rd  and  happiness,  he  would  have  us  there- 
'.»  hare  some  full  scope  of  time  lo  be  serious  and  solemnly 
;  taken  up  in  the  worship  of  him.  But  it  is  referred  lo  ibis  fourth 
:,cpinmiu)dment  as  it  stands  in  a  general  reference  and  relation  lo 
>cTenlh  day's  Sabbath,  wherein  this  gcneml  of  solemn  time  is 
•wallowed  up  and  preserved ;  and,  verily,  if  the  six  days'  labor  be 
required  in  the  fourth  commandment,  in  case  it  be  done  in  refer- 
,«»ce  lo  the  s(;ve nth  day's  rest,  much  more  all  solemn  time  of 
worship,  as  it  stands  in  reference  lo  a  Sabbath  day. 

7%r«u  33.  The  worship  itself  therefore  is  not  required  in 
iAm  commandment,  if  only  the  time  of  worship  be  enjoineS ;  and 
Iff  ignorance  or  prejudice  did  not  bias  and  sway  men's  judgments 
Anoi  the  naked  and  genuine  meaning  of  each  commandment,  it 
VDuld  soon  apjienr  that  [he  whole  won^hip  of  God  itself  is  con- 
tained in  the  ihree  first  commandments,  and  therefore  nothing  ', 
'faft  that  could  possibly  be  enjoined  by  the  fourth,  but  only  lliu 
I  know  a  lime  of  worship  may  in  some  respect  be  called 
'  worship,  but  the  wonibip  itself  in  all  olber  respects  is  not  i-cq«ired 
li  this,  but  in  other  commandments ;  for  if  in  the  first  command* 
nl  we  are  to  have  God  to  be  our  God,  by  love  of  him,  trust  Id 
n,  delight  in  him,  etc.,  (which  nature,  as  it  were,  calls  for,  ifGod 
Jw  our  God,)  then  all  that  which  we  call  natural  worship  is  re- 
{■itrd  hrre ;  and  if  devised  forms  of  worship  be  forbidden  in  the 
neond  commandment,  which  ore  of  human  invention  and  institn- 
w,  ibcn  all  God's  instituted  worship  must  be  commanded  here- 
in ;  and  if  vain  and  irreverent  manner  of  worship  be  forbidden  in 
Uw  third  commaadment,  then  all  common  worship,  as  some  call 
it  or  rather  all  that  holy  and  reverent  manner  of  worship  whioli 
t  owe  to  God,  is  required  in  the  Rame  command;  and  if  all 
fund,  instituted,  and  common  worship,  or  holy  manner  of  wor- 
ip,  be  repaired  in  the  three  first  commands,  I  mai;vel  then  how 
any  worship  (any  further  than  as  a  time  of  worship  may  be 
railed  worship)  can  b«  required  in  thi^  fourth  command.  The 
lime,  therefore,  and  not  the  worship  itself,  is  required  herein ; 
(or  if  any  worship  be  required,  it  is  either  the  whole  worshiji  of 
"    '  e  special  kind  of  worship  ;  if  the  whole  worship,  i' 


^i|kere  sboidd  be  n 
nini  commattdmenls,  bii' 


rship  of  God  required  directly  in  the  tlirc 
the  very  same  which  is  commtiiided  i 


the  fourth  also,  wliich  gross  taulology  is  mosl  absurd  lo  •iitiBKino 
in  tile  sbort  sum  of  these  ten  words  ;  but  if  any  special  kind  of 
woraliip  should  be  required,  and  not  the  whole,  Iben  the  .SAbbxth 
day  is  sanctified  lo  »omc  ono  kind  uf  worship,  rather  ihan  to  the 
exerci.w  of  all  kind  of  worahip,  which  ia  moat  false  and  profane ; 
for  who  will  affirm  that  the  Sabba'h  is  to  be  sanctified,  suppose 
by  that  kind  of  womhip  which  is  public,  and  not  private  al^o ; 
by  exturnal,  and  not  by  intemat  worship  alr^o  :  by  natural  worship 
in  love  and  fear  of  God,  etc.,  and  not  with  instituted  in  the  Ui^e 
of  all  God's  ordinances,  and  that  wilb  all  holy  preparation  and 
reverence  also?^ 

ITietii  54.  The  exercise  of  worship  is  one  thing,  the  worship 
Itself  is  another  j  it  is  most  true  that  the  holy  exercise  of  all 
worship  is  here  required,  but  most  false  that  the  worship  itself  is 
fa.  The  worship  itself  is  required  in  the  three  tir«t  commands, 
but  the  BpecinI  exercise  of  all  this  worship  at  such  a  time  is  re- 
quired in  the  fourth  command :  the  exercise  of  holiness  and  holy 
duties  is  here  required  as  the  end,  and  a  holy  rest  as  a  means 
thereunto  ;  and  in  this  respect  it  is  true  which  Walla;us  observes, 
viz.,  thai  it  is  not  a  bare  and  naked  circumstance  of  time,  but  the 
rent  itielf  from  labor,  and  the  application  of  the  day  to  holy  ujcs, 
which  is  here  enjoined ;  but  doth  it  therefore  follow  that  the 
worship  itself,  and  the  holy  duties  themselves,  are  here  directly 
commanded  ?  which  he  seems  to  mainlain.  No,  verily,  no  more 
than  that  works  of  mercy  in  the  second  table  are  required  in  this 
fourth  command  of  the  first  table,  because  the  exercise  of  mercy 
and  love,  as  well  as  of  piety  and  necessity,  is  required  also  in  this 
command. 

"ninit  55.  Ii  is  generally  and  frequently  affirmed  by  tliosa 
who  seek  lo  support  the  morality  of  the  Sabbath,  to  wil,  that  ihe 
exercise  of  worship  and  holy  duties,  al  this  time,  is  required  for 
the  duties'  sake,  as,  at  other  limes,  the  time  is  required  for  the 
lime's  soke ;  by  which  words  iliey  seem  to  make  the  bare  circum- 
stance of  time  Id  be  required  here ;  but  this  assertion  had  need 
be  understood  with  much  candor,  and  the  true  explication  of  it ; 
for  in  some  sense  it  is  most  true  which  our  Saviour  affirms,  that 
man  is  not  made  lor  the  Sabbalh  or  the  time  of  it.  (Mark  ii.  27.) 

Tkait  56.  This  time  therefore  may  be  considered  two  ways : 
1.  Abstractly.  2.  Concretely.  1.  Abstractly,  for  the  bare  cir- 
cumstance of  time,  abslracted  and  stripped  from  all  other  con- 
siderations ;  and  so  it  is  very  absurd  lo  imagine  all  the  holy  duties 
of  the  Sabbath  to  be  for  the  time,  as  if  God  and  all  bis  holy 
worship  should  give  homage  unto,  and  attend  upon,  a  naked, 
empty  circumstance.     Time,  in  thb  respect,  is  rather  for  llio 


THE  JIURALITY   OF  THE  SABIIATH. 


C3 


■'Worship's  sftke.  2.  Concretely,  as  it  is  wholly  sanriitied  and  set 
BBfiart  for  God,  or  tu  it  ia  a  lioly  lime,  Bet  apart  lor  lioly  rest, 
fo  roan  might  attend  upon  God;  and  in  this  respect  all  liolj 
'S  are  lor  [liis  lime,  because  in  Iliiii  res|)ect  tliey  are  for  God, 
is  all  in  all  in  holy  time.  And  therefore  Wallicus  need  not 
u  upon  search  to  see  whether  the  holy  rest  of  the  day  bo 
ired  in  the  f«cond  or  any  other  cominaod,  for  it  h  not 
ned  by  any,  that  the  naked  circumstance  of  time  is  here  only 
InqnireJ,  without  any  holy  rest;  but  that  a  holy  lime  of  rest  is 
[  fterein  cotamanded,  and  therefore  to  be  referred  to  this  lummand ; 
E  bence  aLw  it  is  most  false  which  some  affirm,  viz.,  "  tliat  the  rest 
l.froni  ordinary  labors  on  this  day.  as  it  is  connected  with  holy 
D/dniice  of  worship,  without  which  they  ean  not  be  performed,  is  as 
laeccssary  now  as  when  the  Jewish  Snbbalh  was  in  being;  but 
f  Bth^rwiee  out  of  these  duties  there  is  no  holy  time  of  rest  com- 
Latanded."  For  such  a  restraint  of  lime  to  holy  duties  as  make« 
I  tte  limu  holy  for  the  duties'  sake,  so  that  no  time  is  holy  but  in 

■  the  performance  of  holy  duties,  and  these  duties  (upon  narrow 

■  •xaminalion)  only  public  duties,  dolli  but  open  a  gup  for  licen- 
I  tiousnesa,  voluptuousness,  sports,  May  poles,  and  dog  markets, 
I  and  snch  like  profaaeness,  out  of  the  lime  of  holy  public  worship, 

what  private  worship  each  man  shall  think  most  meet.  For 
LIB  this  si'nse  holy  duties  are  for  the  time,  because,  the  whole  day 
I  Ving  sanctified,  holy  duties  are  therefore  to  attend,  and  in  this 
I  tespect  are  for  this  time,  and  not  the  time  for  them,  tiz.,  thai 
f  when  the  time  of  the  exercise  of  some  holy  duties  doth  cease,  the 
ime  of  holy  rest  or  holy  time  must  then  cease  also. 

Thrtit  57.     Nor  should  it  seem  strange  that  holy  duties  should 

(lend  holy  lime,  and  be  for  the  sake  of  such  lime ;  because, 

P  although  it  be  true  thai  this  time  is  sanctified,  that  man  may  per- 

I  Jorm  holy  duties,  yet  man  is  now  called  to  the  performance  of 

\-tl\  lioly  duties,  that  he  may  lastly  honor  God  in  all  holiness  in 

lanch  a  special  lime ;  which  time,  if  any  human  power  only  should 

it  axij  holiness  in,  and  it  therefore  should  be  attended  on,  what 

luUl  it  be  else  hut  an  observing  of  days  and  times?  condemned 

J  the  aiM>:«tle,  (Koin.  xiv. ;  Gal.  iv. ;}  which  dirty  ditch  of  ob- 

rving  limes  they  uuawares  fall  into  who  plead  against  a  deter* 

nod  S^haili,  sanctified  of  Go<l,  and  yet  would  have  some  time 

d  day  observed  by  the  ap|>ointment  of  men  ;  for  the  observa- 

n  of  such  days  which  Goil  shall  appoint  can  not  be  condemned 


I 


i-  observing  of  ti 


but  the  observation  of  days,  which 


a  ilinll  think  fit  may  be  quickly  reduced  to  s 
PWp     If  any  ihink  that  there  is  a  peculiar  manner  of 


I 


I 


boliness  and  of  worslilpliig  God  lioi-cin  required,  wliidi  is  not 
requir^tl  in  any  other  conimamlment,  it  may  be  readily  granted, 
if  by  peculiar  manner  of  sancliHcalion  be  meant  a  more  specinl 
degree  and  manner  of  exerdding  the  t^liole  worship  of  God,  in 
respect  of  euch  a  lime ;  but  it  doth  not  therefore  follow,  that  any 
new  kind  of  worship  (which  WalliEus  hence  pleads  for)  is  re- 
quired herein  j/for  lliia  higher  degree  and  special  manner  of 
worship  is  not  the  nubslancc  of  any  new  worship,  it  being  only  a 
peculinr  degree  of  worship,  and  iberefore  varies  not  the  kind. 
And  if  the  three  Urst  eominandmcDts  enjoin  the  worship  itself, 
then  they  do  command  the  highest  measures  and  degrees  also 
severally  i  for  where  any  duty  is  required,  the  highest  degree 
and  extension  of  it  is  also  therewithal  required.  Hence,  there* 
fore,  it  still  follows,  that  this  peculiar  manner  of  exercising  holy 
duties  upon  this  day  is  chiefly  with  reference  and  relation  lo  the 
time  which  God  Iiaih  sanetilied,  that  herein  he  might  be  in  a 
special  manner  worshiped  and  served ;  and,  verily,  Wallceus, 
fore««eing  the  blow,  had  no  other  way  lo  expedite  himself  fi^m 
making'the  three  first  commandments  either  to  be  mere  ciphers. 
or  the  fourth  commfindment  from  laboring  with  a  needless  tau- 
tology, but  by  flying  for  refuge  lo  this  peculiar  maimer  of  holi- 
ness, which  he  thinks  is  required  herein,  and  not  in  any  of  the 
rest :  •  but  wlial  hath  been  said  may  be  sufficient  lo  dear  up  the 
ungroundedness  of  this  mistake. 

77iMtx  50.  A  little  error  is  a  great  breeder,  and  begets  many 
more  ;  and  hence  it  is  that  Wallieus,  nmong  many  others,  that  he 
might  make  the  worship  itself  to  be  required  in  the  fourth  com- 
mandment, disputes  therefore  against  those  who  place  the  insti- 
tuted worship  of  God  directly  under  the  second  commandment, 
which  if  he  could  make  good,  he  had  then  the  fairer  probabilities 
to  show  that  the  worship  itself  was  required  directly  in  the  fourth 
command  i  which  prinfciple,  if  it  was  granted,  would  expose  the 
moralliy  of  the  Sabbath  lo  sorer  blows  and  bruises  than  perhaps 
appears  at  liri't  blush.  It  may  not  therefore  be  amiss,  but  be 
rather  of  special  use  for  the  clearing  up  both  of  the  meaning  and 
morality  of  the  fourth  command,  to  demonstrate,  that  the  insti- 
tuted worship  of  God  (which  Wallieus  calls  cukut  txfemia  et- 
iiiftntmeMala  gidudi  noslTa,per  auditttm  vtrhi  et  taeramtiitorvm 
tffiiin,  etc,)  is  directly  required  in  the  aflmnativG  part  of  the 
second  command. 

G  qaaiio  prsoepio  Hliquem  pcculiureni  ssnclificslioaia  modnm 


THK   MOHALrrV    OF 


65 


Thet 


60.     Tlie 


s  clearing  up  or  ihia  depends  rauch  upon  a 
rijrhl  and  true  unilcrstanding  of  two  l]iiit;rs  in  [be  second  coni- 
mandnient :  1.  What  ihe  graven  imuge  ami  likened  is.    2.  What 
I  by  those  words,  "Love  me  and  keep  my  comnutnd' 

7%c>i«  61.  Fir«t.  Graven  iraagea,  nner  which  the  wholei 
wurlil  atmoBt  hath  been  enticed,  and  gone  a-whoring  from  the 
true  nror^faip  of  God,  were  worshiped  two  ways:  1.  TertnJna- 
live,  i.  e.,  when  people  terminated  their  worship  upon  the  dumb 
idoU  ihemselves,  as  if  ihey  were  gods,  without  looking  any  far-  I 
iher  to  any  God  more  supreme  and  glorious.  This  is  the  sin  of 
Hiany  of  ihe  ignorant  sort  of  Papists,  by  Bellarrain's  own  confes* 
sioii,  as  also  many  of  Ihe  brutisli  sort  of  the  blind  heathens. 
And  this  kind  of  worship  and  idolatry  is  directly  forbidden,  not  in 
Ihe  second,  but  in  the  first  commandment ;  and  iliat  appears 
d[>on  this  undeniable  ground,  10  wit,  that  if  the  first  coramnnd- 
meat  expressly  enjoins  us  to  have  no  other  God  but  Jehovah,  lo 
tru.<t  in,  pray  lo,  love,  fcur  no  niher  God  but  Jehoviib,  then  fur 
any  to  lutve  and  worship  sueh  images  as  iheir  g«ds  which  are  not 
I  Jnliovah,  ia  directly  forbidden  here.  Hence,  iherelbre,  it  unde- 
■iablj^  fallowsi,  that  by  tiie  making  to  ourselves  a  graven  inuige. 
In  the  second  commandment,  somewhnt  else  must  be  understood 
than  iLe  v[prshiping  of  Jma^s  .lermiofi'vly  as  gods.  2.  Or 
•Iso  they  were  won  biped  relative,  i.  e.,  relatively,  or  in  refer- 
vnce  lo  the  Irue  God,  as  means  and  helps,  in  which,  at  which, 
and  by  which  Ihe  true  God  was  worshiped.  And  thus  the  . 
learned  and  well -instructed  Papists  mainbiin  their  abominable 
worship  of  images,  whether  graven  or  (minted,  crosses,  cruciHxes, 
•tc™  lo  be  guod  and  hiwful ;  for,  siiy  they,  we  do  not  wor* 
dtip,  Dor  are  we  so  senseless  as  to  honor  the  image  or  crucifix 
iiM-1f,  but  only  as  helps  to  devotion,  to  carry  our  hearts  lo  God 
and  Christ,  resembled  by  these  images.  Thus,  also,  the  Jews 
of  old,  liiey  did  never  worship  ihe  images  themselves,  but  God 
in  ihem  and  by  ihem.  They  were  not  grown  so  soon  no  ex- 
tremely sottish  as  lo  ihink  that  the  golden  calf  was  the  true  God 
kimielf  which  brought  them  a  few  weeks  before  out  of  ihe  Innd 
of  Egypt,  but  it  was  a  visible  help  lo  carry  their  hearts  lo  God 
only,  and  therefore  the  feast  was  proclaimed  lo  Jehovah.  (Bx. 
xsxii.  4,  5.)  Micnh's  idolatrous  mother  prafesselh  that  she 
had  dedicated  the  eleven  hundred  shekels  of  silver  lo  Jebovnh  to 
^uha  a  molten  image,  (-ludg.  xvii.  3 ;)  she  was  not  simple 
^■M^M  b  those  confused  and  blind  timed)  to  think  ihut  the 
HN^nM  Jehorab,  nor  did  her  son  Micah  think  so,  and  there- 
^H^WAKh  Dot  say,  Now  1  know  ihal  the  teraphim  will  bl«M 


GG 


THE   MORAMTV    i 


ine,  but  that  JKliovah  will  now  bless  n 
,for  his   service.     Nay,  verily,  ibe  i 


I 


e,  linving  sel  up  no  image 
neii  luid  best  instructed 
J  Ibe  tieaihcna  did  never  ihiak  llint  the  idols  and  images 
lluimsclvcs  were  God,  but  they  only  worshiped  God  by  them  ; 
.  which  if  any  doubt  of,  Itl  him  but  read  Doctor  Uainolds,  wbo 
by  pregnant  and  most  eminent  proofs  duraon^lnites,  that  neither 
the  Jews  nor  the  lieathens,  in  their  deepest  apostasies,  did  ever 
worship  their  images  any  other  ways  tlian  rclutively,  as  beliM 
and  meima  of  the  worship  of  Ibe  true  God ;  and  hereby  seta 
forth  the  ahominahle  idolatry  of  the  Romish  church,  for  such  a 
worship  of  their  images,  which  even  themselves  condemn  in  the 
idolatrous  Jews  and  heathens,  who  had  as  much  lo  say  for  iheir 
image  worship  as  the  Pupists  have.  Ileiiee,  therefore,  it  fol- 
lows, that  if  tlie  graven  image  in  the  second  commandment  was 
not  worshiped  as  God,  but  ouly  as  a  means  devised  and  invented 
by  man  to  carry  the  ht^ort  unlo  Grud,  then  (by  a  usual  fiyneo 
ducbe  in  every  eoramnnd)  all  human  inventions,  and  iiistitutiona, 
and  devised  means  of  worship,  or  of  ntrrylng  the  lieart  better 
unto  God,  are  forbidden  in  this  commandment;  and  if  all 
human  instiiuiions  and  devised  means  of  worship  be  herein 
direutly  forbidden,  then  certainly  all  divine  instituiions  and  means 
of  worship,  and  consequently  all  God's  instituted  worship,  in 
ministry,  sacraments,  etc,  are  directly  commanded  in  the  affirma- 
tive part  of  this  second  command,  and  consequently  not  in  the 
fourth  command.  And  if  all  urthodox  divines  condemn  the 
Popish  relative  worship  of  images,  as  directly  cross  and  contrary 
to  the  second  command,  I  then  see  no  reason  why  any  should 
question  but  that  all  the  instituted  means  of  worship  (images,  as 
ii  were,  of  God's  own  devising)  should  belong  to  the  atHrmative 
part  of  the  same  command.  The  second  thing  to  be  explained 
in  this  cammutidment  is.  What  is  love  lo  Qod,  and  keeping  of  bis 
commandments,  whiuli  we  reail  of  in  ibe  close  of  the  command- 
ment?/ Love  lo  God  is  liere  op]>osed  to  hatred  of  God,  and 
those  that  love  him  lo  those  that  hale  him.  Now,  this  hatred  is 
not  haling  of  God  at  large,  for  there  is  a  hatred  of  God  in 
every  sin,  (Prov.  1.  29;  viii.  36,)  but  in  particular,  wheu  it 
appears  in  this  particular  sin  of  setting  up  of  images  and  men's/ 
inventions,  forbidden  in  this  commauduieot,  which  therefore  seta 
down  Ibe  proper  punishment  for  this  sin.  So  by  love  of  God  is 
not  meant  love  of  God  at  krge,  (which  is  seen  in  keeping  every 
command,}  but  in  particular,  when  we  love  God  iu  bis  own  ordi- 
Look,  therefore,  as  haired  of  God  in 
setting  up  man's  inventions  and  institutions  (which  superstitio 
persons  think  lo  be  much  love  to  God)  is  here  condemned  in 


THF,  mohalitt  of  the 


67 


e  by  I'oiumaiKlnieiiLt 
Vifan  commHnilnieiils,  {oa 
I  grouiidj^  which  I  ii^t  not 
CaliEDlions  and  ordii 


KkWjiaiive  part  of  ihe  commanclment,  so,  on  the  contrary,  love  lo 

I  God  in  closing  nitb  him  and  seeking  of  him  in  his  own  instilu- 

Ltions,  whether  word  or  saL-nunenta,  etc.,  is  here  enjoined  in  the 

e  part  of  Iliis  command,  and  consequently  not  (us  Wal- 

I  ka»  would  have  il)  in  Ihe  ntlinnative  juirt  of  tlie  fourth  com- 

■luid.  keeping   my  command  me  nl.i  being  set  down  as  a  fruit 

if  this  love,  and  both  together  being  opposed  lo  hatred  of  God. 

"  '  '  1  not  be  meant  in  general  all  .the 

le   imagine   upon    miserable  weak 

mention,)  but  in  special,  God's  in- 

niled  in  special  by  him,  to  which 

i  of  men's  hea<isafl!i_hands    are 

t  «onmoiily  IB  Scripture  opposed,  and  are  therefore  condemned, 

it  commtiuded,  or  because  none  of  his  commnndmenla. 

l(Jer.  vii.  31.     Deut.  xii.  30,  31.     Matt.  xv.  9.)     If,  therefore, 

E  agiun,  God's  institutions  and  commandments  are  liere  enjoined 

I  In  lh»  Kcond  commandment,  they  can  not  be  directly  required  la 

e  fi>urtli  command.     These  Ihinp  being  thus  cleared,  the  objec- 

Nu  of  WalUeue  are  eBsily  answered.     For,  first,  he  Baitli,  "■that. 

Dm  the  negalire  part  of  this  second  commtindtaent  cnn  not 

Bte  gMhered  such  an  affirmative  pttrl  aa  this  in,  vii.,  that  God  will 

■  ke  worshiped  by  the  word  and  sacr&menls."     But  that  this  asf^er- 

fttioo,  thus  barely  propounded,  but  not  proved,  is  false,  appears 

I'ftom  what  hath  been  said  concerning  the  true  meaning  of  the 

tgalive  part  of  this  command.     For  if  buman  inventions,  under 

f  name  of  graven  image,  he  forbidden,  then  divine  institutions, 

l«Brb  Its  word  and  aacramenta  be,  are  here  commanded,  and  from 

1  llmi  nAgmive  any  ordinary  capacity  may  readily  see  what  the 

~         '    !   i^     ile  suiih   again,   secondly,   **  that   if  instituted 

rsbtp  was  cimlained  under  the  affirmative  part  of  the  second 

nt,  then  this  commandment  is  mutable,  because  God 

I  ihud   worshiped   one   way  before  Cliriit,   and  another   way 

M  Christ  1  but  (saith  he)  the  second  commandment  is  moral, 

1  therefore  immutable,  and  therefore  such  mutable  worship 

n  not  bu  ei\joinc<i  herein."     But  we  have  formerly  shown  thai, 

_h  tliit  commandment  be  moral  and  immutable  in  respect 

f  ttscK  yet  in  re»pect  of  the  application  of  it  to  this  or  that 

"leet  or  thing  commanded.it  may  be  in  that  respect  mulnblc 

c  it  is  an  humatable  taw  that  God  must  be  worshiped  with  his 

N  wonthip,  such  as  he  shall  institute,  (and  this  is  the  sum  of 

gad oommand moot  itself;)  yet  the  things  inslituied  (wherc- 

•  b  only  an  application  of  the  command)  may  be  mutable.: 

iroutniBandmunt  duih  not  immutably  bind  lo  the  obser* 

I  W  that  particular  iniuiuted  worship  oul^',  bi(t  Kj 


1 


observe  GcmI's  inslituted  worship,  and  U>  nttend  his  appointments, 
which  13  the  only  moral  law  and  rule  in  the  atfirn]»iive  part  of 
this  command.  He  thirdly  objects,  **  that  the  worshiping  of 
God  in  word  and  sacraments,  etc.,  is  never  opposed  in  all  lliu 

I  Scripture  to  the  Horshiping  of  images."  But  tliis  is  false  ;  for 
God's  institutions  (of  wliich  word  and  ^ncramentB  ore  a  pan)  are 
frequently  opposed  to  human  inventions,  the  worship  appointed 
by  God  to  the  worship  devised  by  man.  Images  of  God's  deris' 
ing  ore  oft  opposed  to  imdges  of  men's  own  inventing  ;  [be  voice 
of  God,  which  was  only  heard  with  ibe  ear-ia  opposed  to  an 
image  or  similitude  which  might  be  seen.  (Dent.  iv.  12.)  A 
graven  image,  a  teacher  of  lies,  is  opposed  lo  ibe  Lord's  teaching 
of  truth,  and  also  to  his  presence  in  liis  temple,  which  was  tlie 
seat  of  instituted  worship.  (Hub.  ii.  18-20.)  The  worship  of 
images  which  God  would  liave  abolished  b  opposed  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God  by  sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  in  the  place  which 
G(hI  should  cboose,  (Dcut.  xii.  1-20;)  but  yet  he  tells  us, 
"  that  to  WDi^hip  God  in  images,  and  lo  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  truth,"  (which  is  inward  worship.)  "are  opposite;  as  also  the 
lilling  up  of  pure  hands  in  every  place."  (John  iv.  26.  1  Tim. 
ii.  8.)  He  tells  us  also,  that  acknowledging  of  God  in  bia  immen- 
eity  and  infinite  majesty  are  op{X)sed  to  image  worship.  (Rom.  i. 
20-22.  Is.  xl.  22.)  Be  it  so.  But  will  it  therefore  follow,  that 
to  worship  God  according  to  his  own  institutions  is  not  to  worship 
him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ?  Is  it  rather  a  carnal  than  a  spirit- 
_  ual  worship,  to  attend  on  God  in  word  and  sacraments?  May 
we  not  lift  up  pure  hands  in  the  usu  of  God's  own  institutions  ? 
Is  not  God's  immensity  and  m^esty  acknowledged  and  ^een  in 
the  use  of  his  own  ordinances,  >ts  well  as  creatures  and  provi- 
dences ?  I  confess  the  blinder  sort  of  heathens  might  worship 
stocks,  and  stones,  and  images  of  creeping  things,  and  four-fooled 
beasts,  in  ihe  place  of  God  himself,  termiuaiively,  and  God 
might  account  uf  all  their  image  worship  as  such,  ibougb  used 
relatively  ;  and  hence  the  opposition  may  well  be  made  between 
wor&hipiug  them  as  God,  and  an  infinite  God ;  and  this  worship  (as 
was  said)  falls  then  under  the  iirst  commandment :  but  assuredly 
this  image  worship  which  the  apostle  condemns,  (Etom.  i.  21,  23,) 
in  debasing  the  inliriile  majesty,  and  liiuiting  it  to  this  and  Iliat 
iimige  wherein  they  did  worship  it,  is  forbidden  (being  only  rela- 
tive worship)  in  the  second  command.  J-'or  1  think  the  aposile 
(in  Rom.  i.)  hath  an  eye  principally  al  the  most  lascivious  idola- 
ters in  the  world,  viz.,  the  I'^gyptians,  among  whom  principally 
we  read  of  those  images  of  creeping  things  and  four-foolMl 
j,  in  their  hieroglyphics :  and  ^et  wb  know  that  all  tliat  Uus 


TlIK   MOKAI.ITT    OP  TIIK 


C9 


«otshi]i  dill  get  out  sometliing  or' other  of  the  Deity,  which  thcre- 
'n  (hdJ  mi  relatively)  Iliey  did  warship.  But  I  mast  not  enter 
iitu  the  discourse  of  these  things  here ;  suHicient  is  said  to  clear 
1(1  Ibis  jH>inl.  vii.,  thut  God's  institmed  worship  fulb  directly  ' 
nnder  the  »ecoDd,  not  fourth  eominand. 

7%e»u  6i.  It  is  true  that  llie  exercise  of  pnWic  worship  of 
tnnny  U^ther  is  to  be  a.t  this  time  upon  tlie  Sabbath ;  but  doth 
h  fottuw  that  therefore  this  public  wori^hip  itself  falls  directly 
under  this  command  ?  For  if  public  assemblies  be  (as  some 
think)  a  part  of  natural  worship,  so  as  that  the  light  of  nature 
directs  all  men  dwelling  together,  as  creature^  to  worship  God  . 
logeiher  publicly  as  Creator,  then  thb  worship  falls  directly 
nikder  the  first  (not  fourth)  commattdment,  where  natural  wor- 
■hip  is  directly  commnnded ;  but  if  public  assemblies  be  consid- 
ered as  distinct  churches  politically  united  and  combined,  publicly 
to  worahip  God,  then  such  churches,  considered  thus  as  political, 
not  mystical  assemblies,  do  fall  directly  under  the  second  com- 
numd,  as  parts  of  instituted  worship  ;  for  as  all  devised  forms  of 
chllrclle!^  whether  diocesan,  provincial,  national,  universal,  (being 
the  inventions  of  man  to  further  ilie  worship  of  God,)  are  con- 
demned directly  in  the  second  command,  so  all  sucli  churches  as 
are  framed  into  a  spiritual  polity,  aAer  the  fashion  and  pattern 
of  the  word  and  primitive  institution,  arc  (with  leave  of  Erastus 
and  his  disciplen)  enjoined  in  the  same  commandment,  and  there- 
fore not  in  the  fourth.  Gomarus  and  Master  Primrose,  therefore, 
much  mistake  the  mark  and  scope  of  the  fourtli  command- 
ment, who  affirm,  "that  as,  in  the  three  first  commandments, 
<'>od  ordaiaed  the  inward  and  outward  service,  which  be  will 
have  every  particular  man  to  yield  to  him  in  private  and  sever- 
ally from  the  society  of  men  every  day,  so  in  the  fourth  com- 
maulment  be  enjoineth  a  service  common  and  public,  which  all 
tnuat  yield  together  unto  him,  forbearing  in  the  mean  while  all 
othrr  business."  But  why  should  they  think  that  public  worship 
u>  more  requited  here  than  private?  Will  ihcy  say  that  tlie 
Sabbalh  is  not  to  be  sanctilietl  by  private  and  inward  worship,  ns 
well  as  by  public  and  external  worship  ?  Are  not  private  pre]i- 
Kratioo,  meditation,  secret  prayer,  and  converae  with  God,  re- 
quired upon  this  day.  as  well  as  public  prayer  and  hearing  the 
word  ?  If  thej'  say  that  these  are  required  indeed,  but  it  is  in 
referrace  to  the  public,  and  for  the  public  worship's  sake,  it  may 
be  then  as  easily  replied,  ttint  the  public  worship  is  also  for  tlic 
aake  of  the  private,  that  each  man  secretly  and  privately  might 
,  BUM  and  fved  upon  the  guoil  of  public  helps ;  they  are  iDUlUHlly 
.   faelpful  one  to  another,  anil   therefore   are  appointed  one  for 


I 


another,  utilcss  any  will  ihink  timi  no  more 
upoD  this  day  iban  while  puhlic  wor^bip  ki 
hope  shall  nppcur  Id  be  a  piece  of  pi'ofe.^sed  prolan 
metui  whilu,  louk,  as  ihvy  bave  no  reason  lu  think  Ihal  private 
worship  is  required  in  this  cuminiuid,  bccauiie  the  exerciiie  of 
private  ivori^hip  is  at  this  time  required,  so  they  have  an  little 
reason  to  ihink  that  the  public  worship  itself  is  lierein  eDJoined, 
becaiiso  the  exercise  of  it  is  to  be  also  at  suth  a  time.  It  is 
therefore  the  time,  not  the  wortihip  itself,  either  public  or  pri- 
xaie,  which  is  here  direelly  comraandeil ;  although  it  be  true, 
that  both  of  ihem  ure  lierelu  indirectly  required,  *iz^  in  relation 
lu  the  lime. 

Thesii  Oa.  ir,  therefore,  the  moral  worship  ilself,  whether  pub- 
lic, external,  or  private,  be  not  directly  required  in  this  fourth 
command,  much  less  is  the  whole  ceremonial  worship  here  en- 
joined, as  Mitster  Primrose  maintains  ;  for  the  whole  ceremonial 
worship,  both  in  sacrifice,  ceremonies,  types,  etc.,  was  signiticanl, 
and  were,  as  I  may  so  say,  God's  images,  or  media  cultui,  means 
of  worship,  by  carrying  the  mind  and  heart  to  God,  by  their 
special  significations,  and  thcrelbre  were  instituted  worship,  and 
therefore  directly  contained  under  the  second,  and  therefore  not 
under  the  fuunh  cominaud :  *'  And  if  there  be  but  nine  com- 
mandments whieh  are  moral,  and  Ibis  one  (by  his  reckoning)  is 
to  be  ceremonial,  and  the  head  of  nil  ceremonials,  and  that  lliere- 
fore  unto  it  all  ceremonial  worship  is  to  appertain,"  then  thti 
observation  of  a  Sabbath  is  the  greatest  ceremony,  according  as 
we  see  in  all  other  commandments,  the  lesser  sins  are  condemned 
under  the  grosser,  as  anger  under  murder,  and  lust  under  adul- 
tery ;  and  inferior  duties  under  the  chief  and  principal,  as  hon- 
oring the  aged  and  masters,  etc.,  under  honoring  of  parents  ;  and 
so  if  all  ceremonials  are  referred  to  this,  then  the  &tbbath  is  the 
grossest  and  greatest  ceremony  one  of  them  i  and  if  so,  then  it 
is  n  greater  sin  Id  sanctify  a  8:itibaih,  at  any  time,  than  to  observe 
new  moons  and  other  festivals,  which  are  less  ceremonial,  and  are 
therefore  wholly  cashiered,  because  ceremonial  i  and  if  so,  why 
ibeu  doth  Master  Primrose  telL  us  "that  the  Sabbath  is  moral  . 
tor  substance,  principal  scope  and  end,  and  that  it  is  unm«ct  for 
us  lo  observe  fewer  days  than  the  Jews,  in  respect  of  weekly 
Sabbaths"?  Why  is  not  the  name  and  memorial  of  the  Sabbath 
abandoned  wholly  and  utterly  accursed  from  aS  Ibu  face  of  the 
earth,  as  well  as  new  moons  and  other  Jewish  festivals,  which 
upon  his  principles  are  leas  ceremonial  than  the  weekly  Sabbath? 
I  It  may  be  an  audacious  Familisl,  whose  conscience  is  grown  iron, 
and  whose  brow  is  brass,  through  a  conceit  of  his  immunity  Irom, 


71 


.  rtspcct  of,  any  ihing  which  lialh  the 
■  works  upon  ii,  may  abandon  all  Sab- 
mcNins  ei]ually :  but  those  J 
I  hope  any  pious  mind  else, 

that  when  Ihe  Lord  commands  us 


nil- I 


I  mnd  Chri:itiai)  liberty  ii 

I   BUperscription  of  law  o 

ktlliB  together  with  nen 

~  luppoee,  dare  not,  noi 

I  era  but  this  one  thing, ' 

I  Kmember  to  keep  the  Sabbttth  boly,  lie  must  then  ^according  t( 

I  this  interpretation)  command  us  that,  above  all  other  coinmand- 

■entfi,  ne  obsen-e   his  ceremonial  worship,  (which   they  say  is 

here  enjoined.)  rather  than  his  moral  worship,  wliieh  they  ao- 

I  knowledge  to  be  enjoined  in  all  the  other  nine  commandments, 

il  the  gate  of  none  oF  which  commands  is  written  this  word 

mnrmifr ;    which  undoubtedly  implies  a  special  attendance  to 

I   be  shown  unto  this,  above  any  other ;  for  as  we  shall  show,  kuep 

[  this  keep  all;  break  this,  slight  this,  slight  all ;  and  therefore  no 

wonder  if  no  other  eommrtnd  hath  this  word  remembrr  writ 

I   Bpoa  the  portal  of  it,  which  word  of  fence  denotes  special  afiec- 

tinn  and  action,  in  the  Hebrew  language :  but  I  suppose  it  may 

Mrike  the  hardest  brow  and  heart  with  terror  and  horror  to  go 

about  to  aillx  and  impute  such  a  meaning  to  this  commandment, 

'    VK„  that  principally  above  all  other  duties  we  reioeraber  to  ob- 

e  those  things  which  are  cercmotiial ;  for  although  the  obser- 

'  Tntion  of  ceremonies  be  urged  and  re<iuired  of  God,  as  Master 

t   Primrot^e    truly   observes    from   Fs.  cxviii.  27  ;  Jer.   xvii.   26 ; 

[  Joel  six.  13 ;  Mai.  i.  7,  8,  10,  13.  U,  yet  that  God  should  re- 

I  quire  and  urge  the  observaUon  of  these  above  any  other  worship, 

\  ia  evidently  cross  to  reason,  and  expressly  cross  to  Scripture. 

|,(Is.  i.  11-16;  lxvi.3.      Ps.  I.  13.    Jer.  vi.  20.     Amos  iii.  21. 

I  Jliah  vi.  7.)    To  remember  therefore  to  keep  the  Sabbath  is  not 

\  to  rmneinber  to  observe  ceremonial  duties. 

71«m  64.  Nor  should  it  seem  strange  that  Jewish  holy  days 
I  «r«  not  here  enjoined,  where  a  holy  time,  a  Sabbath  day,  is 
I  OMntnandrNl ;  for  those  Jewish  holy  days  were  principally  insti- 
I  tdtvd  (as  Wollains  well  observes)  for  signitication  uf  Christ  and 
I  \v  hunviaX*,  (as  may  appear  from  1  Cor.  v.  7  ;  Luke  iv.  I'J  ;  tieb. 

J  and  therefore,  being  significant,  were  parts  of  instituted 
lip,  belonging  to  the  second,  not  fourth  command,  but  the 
h  day  (as  shall  be  shown)  is  in  its  original  institution  atid 
Winn  of  another  nature,  and  not  signiticant ;  yet  this  may 
I  b«  gnuitrd,  that  ceremonial  holy  days  may  be  referred  to  the 
^  tburtli   command,  as   appendices   of  it ;  and  if  Calvin,  Urain, 
olhers  aim  nt  no  more,  it  may  be  granted,  but  it 
r  from  hence   that  they  therefore  belong  to  Uio 
tnd  indirectly,  and  directly  to  the  fourth,  (which 
e  contends  for,)  but  rather  directly  to  the  second, 


I 


and  redactivelj  and  indirectly  ns  npiiendices  lo  llie  luurtlij 
whiuh  appendicee,  as  Ihey  may  be  put  lo,  so  they  niay  be  taken 
off  again,  the  moral  couimandment  remaining  entire :  even  na 
we  know  Calvin  refers  many  ceremonial  duties  as  appendices  lo 
such  commoads,  concerning  the  morality  of  nhicli  Master  Prim- 
rose doubts  not ;  and  therefore  for  him  to  tliink  that  the  Sabbatb 
comprehends  all  Jewish  festival  days  upon  ibis  ground,  vii:.,  be- 
cause the  Sabbath  is  joined  with  and  put  in  among  the  reckon- 
ing of  Buch  festivals,  (Lev.  xxiii.  j  Is.  i.  13,  14,)  hath  no  more 
force  in  it,  than  by  retorting  the  argument,  and  upon  ibe  like 
ground  prove  it  to  be  moral,  because  it  is  joined  nith  moral 
commandments,  as  honoring  of  parents  (Lev.  xix.  3)  and 
prayer,  (Is.  i.  19,)  and  by  his  own  confession  with  the  other  nine, 
which  are  all  of  them  moral  also. 

TTient  G5,  Secondly,  not  only  a  solemn  time,  bat  more  par- 
ticularly a  solemn  day,  a  whole  day  of  worship,  is  here  also  re- 
quired by  virtue  of  this  fourth  command ;  and  the  Lord  gives  us 
good  reason  for  it,  that  if  he  gives  us  many  whole  days  for  our 
own  work,  then,  not  some  part  of  a  day,  but  a  day,  a  whole  day, 
according  to  the  reason  and  espress  words  of  the  commandment, 
should  be  marked  out  and  set  apart  for  his  work  and  service.  If 
that  jilacB,  Is.  Ivi,  6,  7.  will  not  demonstrate  a  seventh  day's  Sab- 
bitth  under  the  New  Testament,  yet  it  sufiiuently  and  fully 
clears  the  point  in  hand,  viz^  that  a  Sabbath  day  is  to  be  observed 
by  the  sons  of  the  stranger  or  Gentiles,  who  are  called  strangers  to 
the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  (Eph.  ii.  12;)  and  indeed  Wallmus 
freely  confesse til  and  proveth,  that  a  whole  day  ia  here  required; 
and  if  a  whole  day,  I  hope  none  will  think  that  the  time  out  of 
public  assemblies  is  common  and  profane,  if  a  whole  day  be 
holy ;  and  therefore  Master  Primrose  tells  us  that  the  Gentiles, 
having  no  other  law  but  the  light  of  nature,  have  appointed  set 
days  for  the  exercise  of  iheir  religion,  and  that  as  the  Jews  had 
their  set  days,  (which  we  know  were  whole  days,)  wi  should  Chris- 
tians have  theirs  for  their  public  assemblies  under  the  gospel ; 
which  I  hope  must  be  therefore  whole  days  also :  it  is  also  consid- 
erable that  if  the  three  first  commandments  requiring  God's  wor- 
ship do  consequently  require  some  time  for  that  worship,  (as 
being  a  necessary  adjunct  to  all  actions,  whether  moral  or  civil, 
and  without  which  tliey  can  not  be  performed,)  then  the  fourth 
command  must  require  somewhat  more  parucularly  than  a  time  of 
worship  :  ond  therefore  ibey  that  place  the  morality  of  the  fourth 
command  in  requiring  only  a  lime  of  worship  (because,  say  ihey, 
a  time  of  woraliip  is  necessary)  may,  upon  this  ground,  wholly 
and  iKirfectly  abolish  (he  fourth  command  as  sujierAuous  and 


:    OF   THif  R 


7Sf 


I  needless,  bei^ause  ^uch  a  time  of  worsLip  is  required  in  sll  athct 

[  comniandmeiits   neFessarily.     Thcj  mny  also  imngine  as  great 

[  a  morality  in  the  comniond  of  buiUIing  the  temple  the  place  of 

I  vorihip,  because  a  place  of  worship  is  a  necessary  as  well  as  tf 

I  tfnie:  itis  not,  therefore,  atime,  butsuulia  [imeasis  iircserved  iqa 

I  day.  even  in  a  whole  day,  for  worship,  which  is  here  commanded. 

t       nesit  66.     The  wise  God  could  liavo  appointed  some  part  oT 

[  "erery  day  to  be  kept  hoty,  rather  than  a  whole  day  togelher ; 

I  Ihic  im  wisdom  saw  this  proportion  of  time  every  day  lo  be  more 

I   onmeet,  in  respect  of  man's  daSIy  cumbers,  which  do  so  eojily    - 

^tangle  man's  thoughts  and  afIeclionE>.  so  as  within  some  amall 

piece  of  a  day  he  can  not  ordinarily  nor  easily  recover  and  un- 

»o«e  him^lf  to  find  the  end  of  a  Sabbath  scrviceJ  which  is  most  | 

fweel  and  full  rest  in  the  bosom  of  his  God,  as  he  may  within 

Ae  compass  of  a  whole  day  set   apart   for  that  end :    or  aup- 

L  fofc  he  could  do  so  in  a  piece  and  part  of  a  day,  yet  God's  name 

rwonlit  lose  by  it,  if  be  should  not  have  the  honor  of  some  solemn 

[  imj.  which  we  see  do  serve  to  advance  the  names  of  idol  gods, 

I  md  men  on  earth ;  it  is  meet  and  just  (bat  God's  name  should 

be  magnified  by  us  commonly  every  day,  by  setting  apart  some 

thno  which  we  may  well  spare  (as  whet  to  the  scythe)  out  of  our 

I  atllin^,  for  God,  and  this  doth  honor  him,  but  a  day  much  more. 

I        Tittit  67.     They,  therefore,  who  maintain  that  a  seventh  day 

it  not  moral,  because  it  is  bat  a  cireumslance  of  time,  may  an 

I  well  abolish  time  lo  be  moral,  or  any  day  to  be  moral,  because  a 

w  4ay  (let  it  fall  onl  when  it  will)  is  but  a  cireumslance  of  time ; 

1  which  notwithstanding  they  account  to  be  moral  in  this  com- 

I  nand:  bat  we  know  that  much  morality  lies  in  circumstances,  and 

why  n  day  sanctified  may  not  be  as  much  moral  as  a  duty,  I  yet 

K  not. 

TSrtit  CS.     The  Familisis  and  Antinomians  of  late,  like 

I  Ifanicbees  of  old,  do  make  all  days  equally  holy  under  the  gos- 

I  ^1.  and  none  to  be  observed  more  than  another  by  virtue  of  any 

|-  eommsnd  of  God,  unless  it  be  from  some  command  of  roan  lo 

r  which  the  ontward  roan  they  think  should  not  slick  to  oonfbrm, 

I  *r  utileu  it  be  pro  re  nala.  or  upon  several  occasions,  which  spe- 

I  «ial  occasions  are  only  to  give  the  alamms  for  chureh  meetings  and 

e  Christian  assemblies  —  an  audacious  assertion,  cross  to  the 

fht  of  nature  nmong  the  blind   heathens,  who   have   uni- 

f  idlowcd  the  Deily  whom  they  ignorantly  worshiped  the 

f  of  some  solemn  duties ;   cross  to  the  verdict  of  Popish 

and    pratatisls,    whose  slomuchs   never  stood   much 

f  ^bbalh  at  all ;  cross  lo  the  scope  of  the  law  of  th& 

,  if  it  bath   any  general  morality,  (not  denied 


i 
I 

4 


iHn 

JOS-\ 


I 


scarce  to  any  of  Moses'  judiciuls.)  surely  one  nuuld  think  it 
fihoulil  lie  in  the  observatioa  of  some  day  or  days,  though  not  in 
a  seventh  day,  for  which  now  we  do  not  contend  ;  cross  also  to  the 

.appointmenl  of  the  gospel,  foretold  by  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  (Is. 

Jlvi.  4.  6  ;  Ezeli.  xliii.  27^  made  mention  of  by  our  Saviour  to  con- 

^tinuelong  after  the  abolisningof  all  ceremonies  by  liis  death,  (MatL 
xxiv.  20,)  who  therefore  bids  them  pray,  that  their  flight  may 
not  be  in  the  winter,  nor  on  the  Sabhath  day,  which,  whether  it . 
be  the  Jewish  or  Christian  Sabbath,  I  dispute  not ;  only  this  is 
evident,  that  he  hath  an  eye  to  some  special  set  day,  and  which 
was  lastly  ordained  by  Christ,  and  observed  in  the  primitive 
'  j^rcbes,  commonly  called  the  Lord's  day,  as  shall  be  shown  in 
:  place,  and  /khich  notion,  under  pretense  of  more  Epirilual- 
s,  in  making  every  day  a  Sabbath,  (which  is  utterly  unlawful 
and  impossible,  unless  it  bo  lawful  to  neglect  our  own  work  all 
the  week  long,  and  without  which  there  can  be  no  true  Sabbath,) 
dolh  really  undermine  the  true  Sabbath,  in  8{>ecial  set  days;  and 
look,  as  to  make  every  man  u  king  und  judge  in  a  Christian  com- 
monwealth would  be  the  introduction  of  confusion,  and  uonse- 
(juently  the  destruction  of  a  civil  government,  so  to  crown  every 
day  with  equal  honor  unto  God's  set  days  and  Sabbaths  which  he 
bath  anointed  and  exalted  above  the  rest,  this  anarchy  and  con- 
fusion of  days  doth  utterly  subvert  the  true  Sabbaih ;  to  make 

•  every  day  n  Sabbath  is  a   real  debasing  and  dethroning  of 

iGod's  Sabbath. 

^^'hesit  69.  It  is  true  that  every  day,  considered,  materially  and 
physically,  as  a  day,  is  etjually  holy  i  but  this  is  no  argument  to 
prove  that  therefore  every  day  is  morally  and  theologically 
holy  i  for  those  things  which  of  themselves  are  common  may  by 
divine  appointment  superadded  to  them  become  holy  (witness  the 
dedicated  things  of  the  lempk,)  and  so  it  ia  in  days  and  times ; 
under  the  Old  Testament  we  see  some  days  were  more  holy  by 
God's  appointment  than  others,  and  yet  all  days  then  were  ma- 
terially und  alike  holy. 

Thetis  70.  It  is  true  that,  under  the  New  Testament,  all 
places  (in  a  safe  sense)  are  equally  holy  ;  but  it  doth  not  follow 
from  hence  (as  our  adverEaries  would  infer)  that  therefore  all 
times  are  so ;  and  Wallaius  himself  confesseth  the  a:^ument  to 
be  invalid ;  for  it  was  not  ea^  nor  meet,  but  very  dissonant 
from  divine  and  heavenly  wisdom,  to  appoint  in  his  word  all  par- 
ticular places  where  his  people  should  meet,  their  meetings  being 
to  he  in  so  many  thousand  several  countries,  and  various  situations, 
which  places  are  indeed  for  their  general  nature  commanded  and 
necessary,  but  in  respect  of  application  to  circumstances  of  this 
_juid  that  place  and  country,  the  variation  of  them  is  almost 


['  enclltfs.*.  and  therefore  very  incongruoufi  and  useless  lo  Mil  them 
'  down  in  the  wordi  but  it  was  not  so  in  respei-i  of  Bolemn  time, 
or  a  solemn  day  of  worshi]),  for  herein  the  Lord  might  ensily 
appoint  a  particulur  day  to  be  observed,  nraurding  to  the  rising 
ftnd  Netting  of  the  sun  proportion  ably  throughout  all  the  world ; 
Kitd  the  Scripture  hath  expressly  foretold  in  respect  of  phice, 
that  neither  in  Jerusalem,  Juijea,  nor  Samnria,  but  thai  in  every 
place  incense  should  be  offered  up  to  God,  (Mai.  i.  II;)  but  it 
hath  not  80  »poken,  but  mther  the  contrary,  in  respect  of  lime,  x 
n*(i(  71.  Nor  is  any  time  momlty  holy,  in  thiR  sense,  viz., 
instni mentally  holy,  or  as  an  instrument  and  means  by  which 
God  will  convey  any  spiritual  and  supernatural  grace,  (as  iiacra- 
nenia  now  do,  and  »acriliccs  of  old  did ;)  but  being  sanctified  of 
God,  they  are  holy  seasons,  in  which  God  is  pleased  to  meet  and 
bleM  his  people,  rather  than  at  other  times  and  days  of  our  own 
devising,  or  of  more  common  use ;  reserving  only  the  Lord's 
prerogative  to  himself,  to  work  at  other  times  also  more  or  less, 
u  he  aees  meet.  Indeed,  it  is  true  that  by  our  improvement  of 
oor  lime,  and  of  such  times,  the  Lord  sweetly  conveys  him»etf  to 
OS,  yet  still  it  is  not  by  time  itself,  nor  by  the  day  itself;  but  as  he 
(»nv«ys  himself  to  us  by  holy  things,  and  at  holy  places,  (as  the 
mtk  and  temple,)  so  in  holy  timee. 

7%Mf(  72.  There  are,  indeed,  sundry  scriptures,  which,  to 
oae  wlio  is  willing  to  have  all  days  equal,  may  carry  a  great 
breadth,  and  make  a  specious  show  ;  and  I  ingenuously  confess 
that,  tipon  a  rigidum  txnmm  of  them,  they  are  more  weighty  and 
heavy  than  the  disputers  in  this  controversy  usually  fee)  them, 
and  therefore  lliey  do  more  lightly  cast  them  by  and  pass  them 
ever;  and  it  is  lo  he  wished,  that  those  who  do  not  think  that  all 
_  !  are  equal,  yet  will  not  acknowledge  a  seventh  day  to  be 
moral,  had  not  put  wen[ions  unawares  into  the  hands  of  othert, 
vircnglhcning  them  thereby  to  destroy  the  morality  of  any  day, 
and  CO  to  lay  nil  days  level;  for/l  scarce  know  an  argument  or 
•cripiore  allegerl.  by  any  German  writer,  against  the  morality 
«f  a  K'Tpnih  day,  but  It  strikes  directly  against  the  morality  of 
I   any  day,  which  yet  they  acknowledge  to  be  moral,  f  , 

TSmm  73.     The  fairest  color  and  strongest  fifrce  from  GalT 
r.  10,  and  C<d.  ii.  16,  lies  in  the  gradation  which  some  supposu 
L  lo  be  ini4.-nded  in  both  those  places.     "  ¥o  observe  "  (saith  the 
Mwnle)  "days,  and  months,  and  times,  and  years."  (Gal.  iv.  10.) 
"  nvm  the  apostle  seems  to  ascend  from  the  lesser  to  the  greater, 
1  day*  (which  are  less  than  mouths,  nnd  therefore  weekly 
baili  days)  to  months,  from  months,  or  new  moons,  to  timtn, 
sh  are  higher  than  months,  nud  by  which  is  meant  iheir  an- 


I 


jiubI  feasts  and  faais,  orJered  according  lo  llie  «oiyei,  or  filtf  bI  pcb- 
Gons  of  the  year ;  uod  from  limes  lie  ascends  y^et  hij^lier  lo  yenra, 
yiz.,  their  sabbatical  jenrs,  because  they  were  c«lebraled  oiice  in 
tamy  years,  sometimes  seven,  aotoetimes  fifty  years  j/hy  whieh 
.gradation  it  seemii  evident  that  the  observation  uf  dnys,  which 
are  lesa  than  mooths,  and  tiierefore  of  weekly  SttbbKths,  ora 
hereby  condemned.  The  like  grndation  is  urged  from  Col.  ii. 
16,  where  the  a|>Mtle  seems  to  descend  from  condemning  the 
greater  lo  the  condemnation  of  ibe  lesser :  "  Let  do  man  judge 
you"  (saith  the  aposUeJ  "  in  respect  of  a  holy  day,  new  moon, 
or  Sabbath  days."  There  holy  days  seem  lo  be  their  annual  or 
eabhaticnl  days,  their  new  moona  are  less  than  then),  beLag  e*  ery 
month;  and  therefore  by  Sabbath  days  (they  infer)  must  needs 
be  meant  the  weekly  ^bbath^,  lese  iban  new  moons.  Indeed, 
.some  understand  by  days  and  times  (in  Gal.  iv.)  heathenish 
days;  but  he  speaking  of  such  days  as  are  beggarly  rudiments, 
under  which  not  the  lieatbens,  but  the  children  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  in  bondage,  (ver.  iii.,)  he  must  therefore  sjieuk  not  n£ 
lieatheiiiKb  but  of  Jewish  days.  I  know  also  that  some  understaod 
that  of  Col.  ii.  16  to  be  meant  of  Jewish  and  ceremooial  Sahbatiiii, 
which   were  aimual ;  but  this   the  apostle's  gradation  seems  to 

T/teiit  74.  To  both  these  places,  therefore,  a  threefold  an- 
swer may  be  given.  Fii-st,  admit  the  gradation  in  them  both  ;  yet 
by  days  (Gal.  iv  10)  is  not  necessarily  meant  all  weekly  Sab- 
jtiath  days,  for  there  were  oUier  days  ceremonial  which  ibe  Jews 
observed,  and  wtiich  the  Jewish  teachers  urged,  besides  the  Sab- 
bath ;  to  instance  only  in  circmncision,  which  they  sealonsly 
pressed,  (Gal.  v.  S.)  which  we  know  was  limited  unto  the  eightji 
day.  and  whicli  ihey  might  urge  as  well  as  circumcision  itself. 
However,  look,  as  the  apostle  when  he  condemns  them  for  ob- 
serving times,  xaii/oi,  which  signifies  fit  reasons,  he  doih  not 
iberein  condemn  them  for  observing  all  lit  aeajjous,  (for  then  we 
most  not  pray  nor  hear  the  word  in  fit  seasons,)  but  he  condemns 
the  Jewish  ceremonial  times  and  seasons  j  so  ^^'hen  he  condemns 
(he  observation  of  days,  the  apostle  doth  not  condemn  Ihe  obser- 
VHtion  of  all  days,  (for  then  days  of  fasting  an4  feasting  must  be 
pondemned,  as  well  as  days  of  resting  under  the  New  Testament,) 
but  the  observiuion  of  ceremonial  days,  which  the  Jews  observed, 
and  fabe  tcftchers  urged ;  and  indeed  the  apostle  speaks  of  such 
roays  as  were  beggarly  elements  and  rudiments./  Kow,  James 
'speaking  of  tlie  moral  law,  which  comprehends  Sabbath  days,  he 
do|h  not  call  it  a  beggarly  luw,  but  a  royal  law,  (James  ii.  8, 1  ^  i) 
nor  doth  he  make  subjection  thereunto  lo  be  the  bondage  of 


■  THE    UOBALITV    Of   T 

I  mrantft,  (as  thai  was.  Gal.  iv.  0.)  but  the  liberty  of  children,  and  1 
ft  ^refure  culle'l  a  royal  law  of  liberty.  ^     I 

I  Sccoinlly,  suppose  the  n-cekly  Sabbalh  be  liere  comprehended 
■'■nder  day?,  a»  also  that  by  Sabbalh  is  meant  weekly  Sabbaths, 
I  (CoL  ii.  1 G ;)  yet  hereby  can  not  be  mennt  ihe  Christian  Sabbath, 

■  but  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ;  for  the  apos^lle  condemns  that  Sabbalh 
ftand  those  Sabbath  days  which  the  Jewish  teachers  pleaded  for 

■  amoag  the  Colossians/  Now,  ihey  never  pleaded  for  the  obaerva- 
flianirf  the  Christian  Subbnth,  but  were  zealuus  and  strong  proctors 
I  Jbr  thai  particul&r  seventh  day  from  the  creation,  which  tiie  Jews, 
w  Ibeir  forefathers,  for  many  years  before  observed,  and  for  the  oh- 
w  •erratiim  of  which  some  among  us  of  lale  begin  to  struggle  as  at 
I  this  day.  Now,  as  was  said,  admit  Ihe  gradniiou  ;  we  do  not  ob- 
I  serve  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  nor  judge  others  in  re^ipect  of  that  Snb- 
ft  bub,  no  more  than,  for  observing  new  moons  or  holy  dnys,  we  do 
I  Blteriy  condemn  the  obserralion  of  that  Sabbath.  If  it  be  said, 
I  Vhy  do  we  not  observe  new  moons  and  holy  days,  as  well  by  sub- 
I  •tilultng  other  days  in  their  room,  as  we  do  a  Christian  Sabbath 
V  in  the  mnm  of  that  Jewish  Snbbaih  ?  we  shall  give  the  reason  of 
I  il  in  its  proper  place,  which  I  mention  not  here,  lest  I  should  biM 
k  toetam  npponere.  These  places  therefore  are  strong  ailments 
I  for  not  oWrvlng  tluit  seventh  day  which  was  Jewish  and  cere- 
ft  Bonial,  but  ihey  give  no  sulHcient  ground  for  abandoning  all 
I  Clirisluui  Sabbaths  under  the  gospel. 

I  Thirdly,  there  is  a  double  obf^ervulion  of  days,  (as  Wallseus  and 
I  Davenant  well  observe:)  1.  Moral.  2.  Ceremonial.  Now,  the 
P  apoAile,  in  the  places  alleged,  speaks  against  the  ceremonial  and 
ft  Pharisaical  observation  of  days,  but  Dot  moral ;  for  days  of  fast- 

■  aig  (u%  to  be  observed  under  the  gospel,  (the  Lord  Christ  our 
I  Brtd««room  bi-ing  now  taken  from  us,  when  our  Saviour  expressly 
I  toll*  UK.  that  then  his  disciples,  even  when  they  had  the  giM^alcsl 
R  aejwures  uf  Christ's  spiritual  presence,  should  fast.)    (Matt.  is. 

■  15.  16.)  But  we  are  to  observe  the.ie  days  with  moral,  not  cer- 
I  «maiiiiU  nbservation,  such  as  the  Jews  had,  in  sackcloth,  ashes, 

■  iMring  knir,  rending  garments,  and  many  other  cercmoniHl  trap- 
I  pings  i  we  are  to  rend  our  hearts,  and  cry  mightily  unto  God  upon 
^^fcmf  days,  which  is  the  moral  observance  of  them.  So  it  is  iu 
^■MMBof  Ihe  Sabbath ;  no  Sabbalh  day,  under  the  gospel,  is  to  be 
^^H|HM*ith  ceremonial  or  pharisaical  observation,  with  Jewish 
^HpRlion»,  sacrifices,  needless  abstinence  ft-om  lawful  work,  and 
^^■Ob*  formalities ;  but  doth  it  hence  follow,  that  no  days  are 
ViB  be  obwrved  under  the  gospt:!  with  moral  observation,  in  hear- 
■.Ipg  the  word,  receiving  the  sacraments,  singing  of  psalms?  elis. 
KThaw  w»f  114  morality  in  the  d«w  moous,  by  virtue  of  ai^y  spaciul 


coramandmenl,  and  therefore  it  is  in 
may  not  be  observed  still,  as  well  n 


vain  to  ask  why  new  moona 
i  Sabbaths,  provided  ibnt  it 
be  obaervatione  morali  ;  for  there  is  a  morality  in  observing  Iho 
Sabbath,  and  thai  by  a  special  cDmrnaod,  which  is  not  in  new 
moons  and  holy  days;  and  therefore,  as  we  utterly  abandon  all 
that  which  was  in  the  Sabbath  ceremonial,  so  we  do  and  should 
heartily  retain  and  observe  that  whiuh  is  moral  herein,  with  moral 
observance  hereof. 

Jiesii  75.  There  were  among  the  Jews  days  ceremonially 
holy,  03  well  as  meats  ceremonially  unclean  ;  now,  in  that  oilier 
place  which  they  urge  against  the  observation  of  any  days  under 
the  gospel,  (Bom.  siv.  5,)  therein  days  ceremonial  are  com- 
pared with  meats  ceremonial,  and  not  moral  days  with  ceremo- 
nial meals.  It  is  therefore  readily  acknowledged  that  it  wan  an 
error  and  weakness  in  some  to  think  Ihemselres  bound  to  eeilain 
ceremonial  days,  as  well  as  it  was  to  abstain  from  certain  cere- 
monial meats ;  but  will  it  hence  fallow,  that  it  is  n  part  of  Chiis- 
tian  liberty  and  strength  to  abandon  all  days  as  ceremonial  ?  and 
that  it  is  a  part  of  Christian  weakness  to  observe  any  day  under 
the  gospel  Jx- This  verily  hath  not  the  face  of  any  reason  for  it 
from  this  scripture,  wherein  the  apostle  (doubtless)  speaks  of 
ceremonial,  not  moral  days,  as  (shall  appear)  our  Christian  Sab- 
baths be.  And,  look  as  it  is  duty  (not  weakness)  sometimes  to 
abstain  from  some  meats,  as  in  the  case  of  extraordinary  humili- 
ation, as  we  see  in  Daniel,  (Dan.  ix.  and  xi.,)  so  il  may  be  duty 
(not  weakness)  still  to  observe  some  days ;  I  say  not  the  seveiiLh 
day,  for  that  is  not  now  the  question,  but  some  days  are  or  may 
be  necessary  to  be  observed  now. 

Theti*  76.  If  any  man  sliall  put  any  holiness  in  a  day  which 
God  doth  not,  and  so  think  one  day  moie  holy  than  another,  thii 
is  most  abominable  superstition,  and  this  is  indeed  to  observe 
days  ;  and  of  this  tho  apostle  seems  to  speak,  when  he  sailb, 
"  Ye  observe  days  ;"  but  when  the  Lord  shall  put  holiness  upon 
pne  day  more  than  upon  another,  we  do  not  then  put  any  hollnesi 
in  the  day,  but  God  dtith  it,  nor  do  we  place  any  holiness  in  one 
day  more  than  In  another,  but  God  plaeeih  it  first;  and  this  is  no 
obsen'ation  of  days,  which  the  apostle  condemns  in  those  that 
were  weak,  but  of  tlie  will  of  God  which  he  every  where 
commands. 

Thesis  77.  There  is  (as  some  call  it)  SabbatAum  interaam 
tl  externum,  i.  e.,  an  internal  and  external  Sabbath ;  the  first 
(if  I  (nay  lawfully  call  it  a  Sabbath)  is  to  be  kept  every  day  in 
a  special  rest  from  sin  \  tlie  second  is  to  be  observed  at  ceriain 
time#  sod  on  speuuil  days  ;  now,  il'  that  other  plAce  (Is.  Ixvi.  23) 


TBE   HORILITI    f 


■  rat:  s.vbbath. 


(which  is  much  urged  for  the  equality  of  all  uajs)  be  meant  of 
I  m  coniinual  Sobbaih,  so  thiri  those  wonl^,  "  fromsKubbaih  lo  Sub- 
I  buh,"  if  they  dignify  a  eonstani,  continual  wor.ihi^'irf  God  indeC- 
I  initely,  then  the  pro))het  speaks  of  an  intertial  Sabbat hTVii^ich  shall 
'n  f pecial  be  observed  under  the  gospel ;  but  tbia  doth  not  aboliflh 
I  lhf>  observation  of  an  external  Sabbath  ab^o.  no  more  lliun  in  tbe 
lime*  before  ibe  goi^pel,  when  the  people  of  Gud  were  tiound  to 
I   observe  a  <v>ntiDUHl  Sabbath  and  rest  from  iin,  and  yet  wtire  not 
exempted  hereby  from  external  Sabbatba,  oa\y  because  more 
e  b  poured  out  upon  the  people  of  Gud  under  tbe  New  Tes- 
I   ttment  than  under  the  Old,  and  under  aonie  times  and  seasons 
I  of  the  New  Testament,  and  some  people,  more  than  at  and  upon 
I  others :  hence  tbid  prophecy  points  at  the  limes  of  tbe  gospel, 
wherein  God's  people  shall  worehip  God  more  spiritually  and  con- 
tinually than  in  former  limes.     But  if  by  this  phrase,  "  from  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath,"  be  meant  succession,  i.  e.,  one  Sabbath  after 
knuther  succe«sively,  wherein  God's  people  shall  enjoy  blessed 
fvlkiwsbip  with  God  from  Sabtiatb  to  Sabbath,  successively  in  the 
worship  of  him,  one  Sabbath  after  another,  then  this  place  is  such 
t  •  weapon  in  their  own  bonds   against  them^elvef,  as  that  it 
wouiuls  to  tbe  heart  tliat  accursed  conceit,  that  all  days  should  be 
^wndoned  by  those  under  the  New  Testament.     Itut  suppose 
It  by  Sabbath  is  not  meant  the  weekly  Sabbath,  (fur  then,  say 
ae,  what  will  you  undcnitand  by  now  moons,  which  are  con- 
I  jtnned  with  them  ?)  yet  these  two  things  are  evident :  I.  That 
1  SabhMhs  and  new  moons  were  set  times  of  worshiping  God  under 
I  the  Old  Testament.     8.  That  it  is  usual  with  the  prophets  to 
ail  (and  not  always  to  type  out)  the  worthip,  and  so  the  limes 
I  at  worship  which  were  lo  be  under  the  New  Testament,  under 
1  Ibe  ordiuonees  of  God  observed  in  the  Old.  as  may  appear.  Is. 
I  six.  19 i  Ual.  i.  11  ;  asalwby  Eiekiel's  temple,  and  such  like: 
I  lwn«*,  then,  it  follows,  that  alihougb  this  place  should  not  evict  a 
Iwvcnth  day's  Sabbath,  yet  it  demonstrates  at  least  thus  much, 
■  Ihu  tame  set  times  and  days,  fihadowed  out  under  the  name  of 
I'Mw  mooos  and  Sabbaths,  are  to  be  observed  under  tha  New 
I  Tetdameni ;  and  this  is  sufficient  lo  prove  ihe  point  in  bund,  that 
U  days  are  not  equal  under  tbe  gospeL 
7%««w  78.     The  kingdom  of  heaven,  indeed,  doth  nol  consist 
I  In  meat  and  drink,  as  the  a|iosile  saith,  (Kotn.  xiv.  17,)  i.  e.,  in 
ase  of  external  indilferent  things,  as  those  meats  and  drinks, 
■And  some  kind  of  days,  were ;  or  if  in  some  sense  it  did,  yet  nut 
B'iriiiefly  in  tbem,  as  if  almost  all  religion  did  chiefly  consist  in 
K  tbem  :  but  doih  it  from  hence  follow,  iliat  it  consists  not  in  things 
^Wnuuonded,  nor  in  any  set  days  of  wgc^bip,  which   arq  woi* 


I 


I 


manded  ?  If  because  the  kingdom  nf  God  consistK  in  intemal 
peace,  and  riglitcou^neas,  and  juy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  thai  there- 
fore all  Rxleronl  observances  of  times  and  duties  of  worship  ara 
not  necessary  to  be  attended  by  gospel  wol-shipers,  (as  some 
secreily  imagine,)  then  farewell  all  external  preaching,  sacra* 
meuts,  profession,  and  confession  of  tlie  name  of  Christ,  as  well 
aa  Sabbaihs :  and  let  such  artists  of  licentiousness  bring  in  all 
profaneness  into  the  world  again,  by  a  law  from  heaven,  not  con- 
deuuing  the  acts  of  the  outward  man,  though  never  so  uboraina- 
lile,  in  abstinence  from  which  (by  this  rule)  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en doth  not  coneiaL  Is  it  no  honor  to  the  King  of  glory  (as  it 
is  to  eartlity  princes)  to  be  served  sometimes  upon  spetiial  fesli- 
valfl,  in  special  alate,  with  specinl  and  glorious  attendance  by  his 
people,  as  well  as  after  a  common  and  usual  manner  every  day  ? 
We  have  seen  some,  who  have  at  first  held  community  of  days 
only,  lo  full  at  last  (through  the  righteous  judgment  of  God 
blinding  tlicir  hearts)  to  maintain  community  of  wives;  and  that 
because  the  kingdom  of  God  hath  (-as  ihey  have  thought)  con- 
sisted no  more  in  outward  relations,  (as  that  is  between  bui^bands 
and  wives)  than  in  (he  observation  of  external  circumsiancos 
and  days. 

1  "   'metis  73,     But  this  is  not  the  ordinary  principle  by  which 

■  many  are  led  lo  maintain  an  equality  of  days  under  the  gospel ; 
but  ibis  chiefly,  viz.,  that  tlic  moral  law  is  not  to  be  a  Christian's 
rule  of  life ;  for  we  acknowledge  it  to  be  no  covenant  of  life  to  a 
believer,  that  either  by  the  keeping  of  it  he  should  be  justified, 
or  that  for  the  breach  of  it  In;  should  be  condemned ;  but  titey 
say,  that  when  a  believer  hath  life  by  the  covenant  of  grace,  the 
law  b  now  not  ho  much  nn  a  rule  of  life  to  such  a  one  ;  and  then 
it  is  no  wonder  if  they  who  blow  out  the  tight  of  the  whole  moral 
law  from  being  a  light  to  tlu^ir  feet  and  a  lamp  to  their  paths,  if 
they  hereby  utterly  extinguish  this  pari  of  it,  viz.,  the  command- 

|ment  of  the  Sabbath.  |  This  dashing  against  the  whole  law  is 
the  very  rayBtery  of  ibis  iniquity,  why  some  do  cashier  this  law 
of  the  Sabbath :  and  Ihey  do  but  hide  themselves  behind  a 
ihreud,  when  (hey  oppose  it  by  their  weapons,  who  therefore 
abandon  it,  hecnuse  it  nlonst  is  ceremonial,  above  any  other  taw. 
THen'f  t^O.     "The  SitbUiih"  (saith  one)  "is  perpetual  and 

'  moral,  but  not  the  Subbnih  day;  the  Sabbath"  (which  some  make 
continual  and  inward  only)  "is  perpetually  to  be  observed,  but 
not  the  Sulibiiih  day ;  a  Sabbath  is  by  divine  ordinaiiuo,  but  a 
Sabbath  day  is  lo  be  observed  only  as  a  human  consliiuiiuii."  liut 
they  should  do  well  to  consider,  whether  that  which  ihey  call  an 
inward  cootiuuol  Sabbath  b«  ioconsisleDt  with  a  upttdal  day ;  for  I 


THE   UOAAMT 


'   THE   SABBATH. 


HI 


a  tare  that  iLoy  uDder  the  Old  TeslAmcnl  were  bound  equally 
'  tritb  us  to  observe  a  conlinual  Sabbath  iu  resting  rrom  all  sin, 
L  ud  reding  in  Go<l  by  Jvsus  Chml,  (Hob.  iv.  1,  2;)  yet  this 
I  4id  not  exempt  ihem  from  observing  a  special  day.  A  Epecial 
L  day  u  A  mo^t  powerful  mcuns  lo  Sabbaiize  every  day  ;  why  then 
1  Slay  not  a  Subbaih  aod  n  Sabbath  day  consist  together  ?  An 
IiBirery-day  Sabbath  h  equally  opposite  to  h  lime  occsaionally  set, 
1|^  to  a  set  day,  which  the  coDunandracnt  enjoins  ;  and  therefore, 
B'jf  it  exempts  a  Christian  from  observing  a  set  day,  it  sets  him 
B'free  aiso  from  all  observation  of  any  euch  set  time ;  for  if,  because 
rvUiristian  Sabbath  ought  to  be  continual,  and  that  therefore 
here  ought  to  be  no  set  days,  then  there  should  not  be  any  occa- 
ioually  tet  times  for  the  worship  of  Giod,  because  these  neither 
fto  be  continual ;  aod  if  there  ought  to  be  no  such  set  times,  wa 
f  moij  ibeo  bid  good  night  to  all  the  public  worsbip  and  glory  of  ~ 
I  God  iu  ilic  world,  lUie  the  man  with  one  eye  to  him  who  put  his 
I  pUicr  vje  quite  oui.  And  if  aiiy  here  reply,  that  there  M  not  the 
k  Ute  rcMfion,  because  holy  liuie  and  days  arc  not  necessary,  but 
t  hxHy  duties  are  ueces^ary,  and  therefore  retjuire  some  occasional 
I  au  time  fur  them.  I  answer,  that,  let  the  difference  be  grunted,  yet 
,1  whieli  I  now  dispute  on  is  this  ground  and  supptt<ilion  only, 
I  TU^  tluil  if  all  s«t  days  ar«  to  be  abandoned,  because  a  Christian's 
I  Sabhalb  ought  to  be  continual  and  inward,  theu  all  ocin^ionul 
Y  let  times  aido  are  to  be  abandoned  upon  the  same  ground,  be- 
I  fiMue  these  can  not  be  continual  and  inward  no  more  than  the 
I  ^tber :  ae  for  them  who  think  no  holy  day  necessary,  but  holy 
•0  lawful  every  <lay,  we  have  already,  and  shall  bcreaAer 
_  r  up  more  fully  in  iu  proper  place.  Meanwhile  it  is  yet 
I  doubtful  to  me  whether  those  who  follow  Master  Saltmarsh  and 
ne  others  will  acknowledge  the  lawfulne.sa  of  any  occasional 
:  timm  for  public  worship,  of  hearing  the  word  and  prayer, 
[  tU-  For  he  makes  the  bosom  of  the  Father  to  be  the  Chri»- 
rlki)  S^Utbaih,  typified  in  the  seventh  day  of  the  first  creation, 
I  (Bf)  be  makes  the  six  days  of  work  to  be  a  type,  not  only  of  the 
I  I<ard  JcfUS  in  his  nrCtive  aod  fulfilling  administrations  while  he 
1  Vtu  in  ibii  flesh,  but  also  to  be  a  figure  of  the  Christian  in  bond- 
I IB*^'  "^  (to  "^  '<i^  "*■'  words)  of  a  Christian  under  active  and 
I-  Working  adminisirittiuns,  as  ibose  of  the  law  and  gospel  are.  B3 
'\  forms  of  worship,  duties,  graces,  prayer,  ordinances,  etc. 
rom  wb«uce  it  wjll  follow,  (from  his  principles,  for  I  know  not 
I  pntctice.)  that  all  fonns  of  worship,  duties,  graces,  prayer, 
R ordinance*,  urn  tlieu  lo  ceuse.  o-'^  types,  and  shadows,  and  ligure«, 
D  oncL'  the  substance  is  come,  (o  wit.  when  they  come  in  this 
mW^  lo  the  higlte&t  atlAininenl,  which  is  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 


I 


THK   1 


man/  N 


which  bosom  is  tl»e  Iriie  Sabbnth  of  a  Christian  man/  Now,  I 
confess  ihnt  (be  bosom  of  God  in  Clirist  is  our  rest,  and  our  all 
in  all  in  heaven,  and  uur  sweet  consolalion  anil  r<?sl  on  earth,  and 
that  we  are  not  to  rest  in  anj  means,  ordinances,  graces,  duties, 
but  to  look  beyond  them  all,  and  to  be  carried  by  them  above 
them  all,  to  Him  that  is  better  than  all,  to  Uod  in  Christ  Jesus ; 
but  to  make  this  bosom  of  God  a  kind  of  canker  worm  to  fret 
and  eat  out  the  heart  and  being,  not  only  of  all  Sabbaths  and 
ordinances  of  worship,  but  also  of  all  duties  and  graces  of  God'a 
Spirit,  nay,  of  Christ  Jesus  himself,  as  he  is  manifested  in  the 
flesh,  and  is  an  external  Mediator,  whom  some  lately  have  also 
cast  into  the  same  box  with  the  rest,  being  sent  only  (as  they 
think)  to  reveal,  but  not  to  procure  the  Father's  love  of  delight, 
and  ifaerefors  is  little  else  than  a  mere  form,  and  so  to  cease 
when  the  Father  comes  in  the  room  of  all  forms,  and  so  is  nil  in 
all.  This,  I  dare  say,  is  such  a  high  affront  to  the  precious  blood 
of  Christ,  and  his  glorious  name,  and  blessed  spirit  of  grace,  that 
be  who  hath  his  furnace  in  Zion,  and  his  (ire  in  Jerusalem,  will 
not  bear  it  long,  without  making  their  judgments  and  plagues  (at 
least  spiritual)  exemplary  and  wonderful,  and  leading  them  forth 
in  such  crooked  ways,  with  the  workers  of  iniquity,  when  peace 
I  aliall  be  upon  Israel.  Are  these  abstracted  notions  of  a  Deity 
I  (into  the  vision  and  contemplation  of  whose  amazing  glory  —  with- 
out seeing  him  as  he  is  in  Christ  —  a  Christian,  they  say,  must 
be  plunged,  lost,  and  swallowed  up,  and  up  to  which  he  must 
ascend,  even  to  the  unapproachable  light)  the  true  and  only 
tiabbaib?  Are  these  (I  say)  the  new  and  glorious  light  bceak- 
ing  out  in  these  days,  which  this  age  must  wait  for?  which  are 
nothing  else  (upon  narrow  search)  than  monkish  imaginations, 
the  goodly  cobwel«  of  the  brain-imi^ery  of  those  idolatrous  and 
superstitious  hypocrites,  the  anchorites,  monks,  and  friars  ;  who, 
to  make  the  blind  and  simple  world  admire  and  gaze  upon  ihem, 
gave  it  out  hereby,  like  Simon  Magus,  that  they  were  some  great 
ones,  even  the  ^ery  power  and  familiars  of  God.  Surely,  in 
these  limes  of  distraction,  war,  and  blood,  if  ever  the  Lord  called 
for  sackcloth,  humiliation,  repentance,  faith,  graces,  holiness,  pre- 
cious esteem  of  God's  ordinances,  and  of  that  gospel  which  hath 
been  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  thousands,  now  is  the 
time ;  and  must  God's  people  reject  these  things  as  their  A,  B,  C  ? 
and  must  the  new  tight  of  these  times  be  the  dreams, and  visions, 
Ljind  slaverings  of  doting  and  deluded  old  monks?  Shall  the 
simplicity  of  gospel  ministry  be  rejected,  as  a  common  thing, 
and  shall  Haruktitt,  Theologia  Mt/ifica,  Augwtinu*  JSlulhe- 
riu4,   Jaeoh   BrJimen.    Cufamit,   Raimundut   Scibund,    Theologia 


r  TUE   MORALITV    <H    TItt:    SAlitiAtn.  83 

tifennaiiieai  niii)  such  like  raonk-admirers,  lie  set  up  as  llie  iiewl 
lights  and  beacooa  on  the  mounuin  of  ilie^e  elevuted  timgg?! 
Sbrelj  (if  (o)  God  hath  his  time  and  waj^  of  putting  a  better 
reliuh  to  his  precious  gospel,  and  the  cross  of  Christ,  which  wos 
wont  in  Faul'a  time  to  be  pluinlj  preached,  without  such  Popish 
paintings,  and  wherein  Grod's  people  knew  how  lu  reconcile  their 
aweet  rest  in  ihi?  bosom  of  the  Father,  and  their  Sahbnih  dny. 
TTietU  81.  If  ein  (whicli  is  the  transgress ion-of  the  law)  he  the 
»te«t  evil,  then  hohness  (wltich  isjuiLOjjiforiijity  in  ihe  law)  is 
r  greatest  good.  If  sin  be  inan's  greatest  misery,  then  holiness 
a'e  greatest  happiness :  it  is  therelbre  no  bondage  for  a  Chris- 

0  be  bound  l«4he  observance  of  the  lavr  as  his  rule,  because 
t  onljr  binds  him  fast  to  his  greatest  happiness,  and  thereby 
"  ects  and  keeps  him  safe  from  falling  into  the  greatest  misery 

i  woe ;  and  if  the  great  design  of  Christ,  in  coming  into  the 
srld,  wad  not  so  much  to  save  man  from  affliction  and  sor- 
«,  (which  arc  lesser  evils.)  but  chiefly  from  sin,  (which  is  the 
it  evil,)  then  the  chief  end  of  his  coming  was  not  (as  some 
i)  U  lift  his  people  up  into  the  love  and  abstracted  epecii- 
[.  the  Father  above  the  law  of  Gnd,  but  into  his  own 
where  only  we  have  ft-llowship  with  the  Father 
B  iaw  of  sin. 

I  B2.  The  blood  of  Christ  wan  never  shed  to  destroy  all 
tase  of  sin  and  sight  of  sin  in  believers,  and  consequently  all 
tendance  to  any  rule  of  the  law,  by  which  means  chiefly  sin 
w  seen  ;  but  he  died  rather  to  make  ihem  sensible  of 
:  for  if  he  died  to  save  men  from  sin,  (as  is  evident,  I  John 
i.  5;  11l  ii.  14,)  then  he  died  to  make  his  people  sensible  of 
I,  because  licreby  his  people's  hearts  are  chielly  weaned  and 
ktered  from  it,  and  saved  out  of  it,  (as  by  hardness  and  insen- 
~leiwka  of  heart  under  it,  I  hey  chietly  cleave  to  it,  and  it  to 
beiD ;)  lutd  therefore  we  know  thai  godly  sorrow  works  repenl- 
novor  to  he  repented  of.  (2  Cor.  vii.  10.)  And  that  Pha- 
s  hardness  of  heart  strengthened  him  in  his  sin  agiunst  God 
■to  the  lost  gasp,  and  hence  it  is  also  that  the  deepest  and 
atest  spirit  of  mourning  for  sin  is  jnured  out  upon  believers, 
tr  God  hath  poured  out  upon  them  the  Spirit  of  grace,  as  is  evi- 
nt,  (Zcch.  xii.  10,  11,)  because  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  was 
:  the  killing  of  their  sin,  now  midies  ihem  sensible  of 
r  ain,  because  it  is  now  sprinkled  and  applied  to  them,  which 

1  not  before,  for  they  now  see  all  their  sins  aggravated, 
ing  DOW  not  only  sins  against  the  law  of  God,  bui  against  the 

1  and  love  of  the  Son  of  God :  it  is  therefore  a  tnoni  tut- 
»d  doctrine  of  some  libcrlines,  who  imagining  that  (through 


I 


Ihe  bloodslied  and  righteousness  of  Christ  in  their  free  justifica- 
tion) God  sees  no  sin  in  liia  ju.atified  people,  tliat  therefore  lhem> 
selves  are  lo  see  no  sin,  because  now  they  are  justified  and 
washed  with  Christ's  blood ;  and  therefore  lest  they  should  bo" 
found  out  to  be  gross  liars,  lliey  mince  the  matter,  they  confess 
that  they  may  see  sin  by  the  eye  of  sense  and  reason,  but  (faith 
being  cross  i«  reason)  they  are  therefore  to  see  the  quite  con- 
trary, and  so  to  see  no  sin  in  themselres  by  Ihe  eye  of  faith ; 
from  whence  it  follows,  that  Christ  shed  his  blood  to  destroy  all 
sight  and  sense  of  sin  to  the  eye  of  faith,  though  not  to  the  eye  of 
reason,  and  thus,  as  by  the  eye  of  faith  they  should  see  no  sin,  so 
(it  will  follow)  that  by  the  same  blood  they  ore  bound  to  see  no 
law,  no,  not  so  much  aa  their  rule,  which  as  a  rule  is  index  «ui 
et  ,oblii/ui.  and  in  revealing  man's   duly   declares    his    sin.   'I 

1  know  that,  in  beholding  our  free  juBlification  by  the  blood  of 

I  Christ,  we  are  to  exclude  all  law  from  our  consciences  as  a  cove- 
nant of  life,  not  to  see  or  fear  any  condemnation  for  sin,  or  any 
sin  able  to  lake  away  life  :  but  will  it  hence  follow,  that  a  jus- 
tified person  mufit  see  no  sin  by  the  eye  of  faith,  nor  any  law  ss 
his  rale  to  walk  by,  to  discover  sin  ?  and  is  this  the  end  and 
fVuit  of  Christ's  death  too  ?  Surely  this  doctrine,  if  it  be  not 
blasphemous,  yet  it  may  be  known  to  be  very  false  and  per- 
nicious, by  [be  old  rule  of  judging  false  doctrines,  \-ir.,  if  eithir 

I  they  tend  to  extenuate  sin  in  man,  or  to  vilify  the  precious  grace 

\  of  Jesua  Cliria%  as  this  doctrine  doth. 

fhstii  83.  If  sin  be  the  transgression  of  the  law,  (which  is  a 
truth  written  by  the  apostle  with  the  beams  of  the  snn,  (1  John 
■  iii,  i,)  then  of  necessity  a  believer  is  bound  to  attend  the  law  as 
his  rule,  that  so  he  may  not  sin  or  Iransgress  that  rule,  (Ps. 
cxis.  11;)  for  whoever  makes  conscience  of  sin  can  not  but 
make  conscience  of  observinjf  the  rule,  that  so  he  may  not  sin  i 
and  conaequeotly  whoever  make  no  conscience  of  observing 
the  rule  do  openly  professs  thereby  that  they  make  no  con- 
Bcience  of  commiiling  any  sin,  whicli  is  palpable  and  down- 
right atheism  tuid  profnneness ;  nay,  it  is  such  profaneness 
(by  some  men's  principles)  which  Christ  bath  purdiased  fur 
them  by  his  blood;  for  ibey  make  the  death  of  Christ  the 
foundation  of  this  ltl)erty  and  freedom  from  the  law,  as  their 
rule ;  tlie  very  thought  of  which  abominable  doctrine  may  smile 
a  heart,  who  hath  the  least  tenderness,  with  horror  and  trem- 
bling. Porquius,  therefore,  a  great  libertine,  and  the  Beelzebub 
of  those  flies  in  Calvin's  time,  shuts  his  sore  eyes  against  this 
definition  of  sin,  delivered  by  the  apostle,  and  makes  this  only  to 
be  a  sin.  viz.,  to  see,  know,  ur  feel  sin,  and  that  the  great  sin  of 


lUfc 


85 


a  is  ro  think  llitU  he  doth  sin.  nnd  lhn(  (hU  U  lo  put  off  lbs 
tonn,  vUt  Bid  eernendo  ampli'ui peccatum,  i.e.,  by  not  seeing  -_" 

Su  thai  when  the  apostle  leila  us,  that  em  is  Ibe  Iransgres- 

I  of  the.  law,  Porqiiiua  tells  us,  that  sin  is  the  seeing  and 

Ing  notice  of  nny  such  transgression  ;  surely  if  they  that  con- 

I  sin  shall  Hnd  mcrey,  [heu  they  that  will  not  bo  much  ob  «ee 

a  shall  find  none  at  all,     A  believer,  indeed,  ia  to  die  unto  the 

m,  and  to  see  no  sin  in  himself  in  point  of  impQIation,  (for  so 

kIw  sees  the  truth,  there  being  no  condemnation  to  them  in  Christ 

B2Mu*.)but  thus  lo  die  unto  the  law.  so  as  to  eeo  no  sin  inherent  in 

Ekimself  against  the   taw,  ihis  is   impious,   (fur  so  lo  see  nu  siu, 

land  die    unto  the  law.  is  an   untruth,'  if  the  apostle  may  be 

I  Mieved.  (1  John  i.  10.)     Those  that  so  annihilate  a  ChrUtianTI 

1  make  him  nothing,  and  God  all,  so  that  a  Chrisiian  must'l 

I  vither  tare,  itlU.  or  gmijit  any  thing  of  himself,  but  he  must  be  * 

1 'Melted  thny  (jod,  and  die  to  tlieae,  (for  then  they  say  he  is  out  of 

I  Vbe  flesh,)  and  tivt-  in  God,  un<l  God  must  be  himself,  and  such 

IMte  language^  whidi  in  truth  is  nothing  else  but  the  swelling 

Blnven  of  the  devout  and  proud  monks,  laid  up  of  late  iu  ihnt 

Eftulc  pock  of  mesl  of  T/ieologia  Germanicot  out  of  which  Bom« 

'•en  up  of  lute  have  mode  iheir  ntked,  for  the  ordinary  food  of 

Mir  deluded  hearers:  I  say,  ilietie  men  had  need  lake  heed 

■fcw  they  stand  upon  this  precipice,  and  that  they  deliver  their 

warily ;  for  although  a  Christian  is  to  be  nothing  by 

iKeing  and  loathing  himself  for  sin,  that  so  Christ  may  be  nil  in 

11  t»  him,  yet  so  lo  be  made  nothing,  as  to  $ee,  know,  think, 

mI,  will,  desire  nothing  In  respect  of  one's  self,  doth  inevitably 

»d  to  see  no  sin  in  one's  self,  by  seeing  which  the  sout  is  most 

^«f  all   humbled,   and  so   God   and  Jesus   Christ  is   most   of  all  I 

Itu]  J  and  yet  such  a  kind  of  annihilation  the  old  monks  have) 

K'pleaded  Tor,  and  preached  also,  (as  I  coald  show  abundantly  from 

It  of  their  own  writings,)  insomuch  that  sometimes  they  counsel 

in  not  lo  pray,  because  Ihey  must  be  so  far  annihilated   as 

til  p(sB#  ;  and  sometimes  they  would  feign  tliemselves  unable 

O  bear  the  burden  of  the  species  of  their  own  pitchers  in  their 

idU  from  one  end  of  them  unio  another,  because,  forsooth,  they 

o  far  annihilaiod  as  neither  to  vtlle,  so  neither  to  tcire  or 

low  any  thing  bfsidu  God,  whom  they  pretended  to  be  all  unto 

11,  and  tltemsi-hes  nothing,  when  God  knows  these  things 

e  tmt  brain  bubbles,  and  themselves  in  these  things  as  arrant 

^potritet  as  tJie  euiib  bore,  and  the  most  subtle  underminers  of 

K  gracQ  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  men's  souls.  . 

T&Mi'i  84.     A  true  believer,  thougli  he  can  not  keep  the  law  I 

rfe«dy,  as  hU  rule,  yet  be  loves  it,  dearly :  he  blames  his  own  I  ' 


86 

'  lietirt  wlieii  he  can  not  keep  it,  but  dolh  not  find  faull  wtlli  the  Taw 
as  loo  hard/ but  cries  out  with  Paul,  "The  law  is  holy  and  good, 
Gul  I  am  carnal ; "  he  lovus  thia  copy,  though  he  can  but  scribble 
aflcr  it;  when,  therefoi'e,  the  questioa  is  made,  vis:.,  whether  a 
believer  be  bouud  to  the  law  as  his  rule,  the  meaning  is  not, 
whether  he  hath  power  to  keep  it  exactly  as  his  rule,  or  by  what 
means  he  is  to  seek  power  to  keep  it ;  but  (he  question  is,  wheth- 
er it  be  in  itself  a  believer's  rule ;  for  fo  to  be  a  rule  is  one 
thing,  but  lo  be  able  lo  keep  it,  and  by  what  nienna  we  should 
keep  it,  whether  by  our  own  strength  or  no,  or  by  i)ower  from 
on  high,  is  another. 

Thetit  sa.  If  the  njKMlle  had  thought  that  all  believers  wero 
free  from  this  directive  power  of  ihe  law,  he  would  never  have 
persuaded  them  lo  love,,  upon  this  ground,  viz.,  because  all  the 
law  is  I'ul filled  in  Jove,  (Gat.  v.  13, 14,)  for  they  might  then  have 
weak  and  feeble,  and  have  truly  said,  {if 
,)  Whal  have  we  to  do  with  the  law  ? 
There  is  the  inward  law  written  on  the  heart, 
ii.  2,)  and  there   i 


cast  oR'  this  argument  a 
this  principle  were  true 

'Thmi  86. 
called  Ihe  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life,  (Rom 

'  the  outward  law  revealed  and  written  in  Ihe  Holy  Scriptures. 
Now,  the  extenial^a[|di)ul)yardlaw  is  properly  the  rule  of  a  Chris- 
tian lifeTan^not  tjic  internal  nnilJaS^^la*^^  (as  some  conceive ;) 
for  the  oulwac^Jaw  is  pertecU.in  that  it  perfectly  declares  whal  is 
God's  will  andwlianE5lT'but  the  inward  bw  (as  received  and 
writ  in  our  hearts)  is  iimnrfprt  jp  (jjia  lifi-.  and  therefore  unfit  to 
b«  our  nite.  The  inwai-d  law  is  our  actual  (yet  imperfect)  con- 
formity to  the  rule  of  ihe  law  without',  it  is  not,  therefore,  the 
rule  itself;  the  htwwilhinjs^iRjIiing  lo  fyi  ruU-d.  (Pe,  xvii.  4i 
cxIk.  4,  5.)  The  outward  lawTiberefore,  is  the  rule ;  the  law 
of  the  Spirit  of  life  (which  is  the  internal  law)  is  called  a  law, 
not  in  respect  of  perfect  direction,  (which  is  essential  to  the  rule,) 
but  in  respect  of  mighty  and  effectual  openition.  there  being  a 
power  in  it  as  of  a  strong  law  effectually  fltlU  BWeelly  compelling 
to  the  obedience  of  the  law  ;/for  as  the  law  of  sin  wiihin  us 
(wlitch  the  ajwslle  calls  the  law  of  our  members,  and  is  contrary 
to  the  law  of  our  minds,  or  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  within  us) 
is  not  Ihe  rule  of  knowing  and  judging  whal  sin  is,  but  the  law 
of  God  wilhoul,  (Rom.  vii.  7,)  and  yd  it  is  called  a  law,  because 
it  hath  a  compulsive  power  lo  act  and  incline  to  sin,  like  a  mighty 
and  forcible  law  ;  so  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life,  the  law  of  our 
minds,  is  called  a  law  ;  not  that  it  is  the  rule  of  a  Christian's  life, 
but  that  it  uomjiels  the  heart,  and  forcetb  it,  like  a  living  law,  to 
tliQobe<lience  of  that  directing  rule  (when  it  is  made  known  to 

I'll)  from  without.     It  iti  therefore  a  great  mistake  to  Ibinlc  ihM 


I^God  translates  tiie  Inw  without  into  a  belii^ver's  heart,! 

refore  ihti  heart  law  is  hb  onlj  or  principiil  rule  of  lire,! 

fcwtnBgine  ihai  the  Spirit  without  tbe  external  law  is  the  rule  \ 

F«f  life;  the  Spirit  is  the   priiidple,  indeed,  or  our   obedience,  ' 

I  whereby  we  conform  unto  the  rule,  but  it  is  not  therefore  the  r 

l-tnelf.  /It  is  true  indeed,  1.  That  the  Spirit  inclines  the  heart  [ 

)  the  obedience  of  the  rule.     2.  It  illuminates  the  mil 

!  many  limes  to  see  it  by  secret  shininga  of   preventing   light, 

[  u  well  as  brings  things  to  their  remembrance  which  they  knew 

before.     3.  It  acts  them  also  aomeiimes,  so  as  when  they  know 

Bot  what  to  pray,  it  prompts  them.  (Rom.  viii.  ]C.)     When  they 

I  know  not  what  to  speak  before  their  adversaries,  in  that  day  it  is 

I  given  to  Ihem,  (Matt.  x.  19  ;)  when  they  know  not  whillier  to 

go,  nor  how  to  go,  it  is  then  a  voice  behind  them,  and  leads  ihem 

to  roantains  of    living  waters.    (Is.  xxx.   21.     Rev.   vii.  17.) 

I  But  all  these  and  such  like  quickening  acts  of  the  Spirit  do  not 

1  argue  it  to  be  our  rule,  accoriling  to  which  we  ought  to  walk,  but 

I  only  by  which,  or  by   means  of  which,  we_OTmeto_wa!k,  and 

I  «re  inclined,  directed,  and  enabled  to  walk 'according  to  the  rule, 

I  which  id  the  law  of  God  without.     For  the  pilot  of  the  ship  ia 

BOt   the  compass   of    the    ship,   becau::te    that   by   the   pilot   the 

■hip  is  guided  :  nor  doth  il  argue  that  the  Spirit  is  our  rule,  be- 

Jise  be  guides  us  according  to  the  rule ;  it  is  not  essential  to 

e  role  to  give  power  to  conform  unto  it,  but  to  be  that  aceord- 

j  lag  to  which  we  are  to  be  conformed.     And  therefore  ii  is  a 

I  «raiy  argument  to  prove  the  law  of  the  Spirit  to  be  the  rule  of 

I  onr  life,  because  it  chiefly  gives  us  power  to  conform  unto  the 

I  nle  i  for  if  the  law  be  that  according  to  which  we  are  to  be 

I  guided,  although  it  should  give  us  no  power,  yet  this  is  suHicient 

'ataake  it  lo  be  our  rule. 

n«it*  87.     The  Spirit  of  God  which  writ  the  Scriptures  and 

I'fa  them  this  rule  of  the  holy  law,  is  in  the  Scriptures,  and  in  that 

[  hw.u  well  as  in  a  believer's  heart ;  and  therefore  to  forsake  and 

reject  the  Scriptureti,  or  this  written  rule,  is  to  forsake  and  reject 

the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  it  as  their  rule  ;  nay,  it  is  to  forsake 

tluM  Spirit  which  is  tbe  supreme  Judge,  according  to  which  all 

privMe  ftpirit«,  nay,  all  the  actings,  dictates,  movings,  stxuikings 

i  of  God's  own  Spirit  in  us,  are  lo  be  tried,  examined,  and  judged. 

[To  the  law  and  the   testimony  was   the    voice  of   the  propb- 

)  their  day».  (Is.    viti.    20.)     The    Lord  Christ  himself 

K-Vefers  the  Jews  to  the  searching  of  Scriptures  concerning  bim- 

I  lelf.  (John  V.  39.)     The  men  of  Bereah  are  commended  .for 

I  •xamiDtng  the  lioly  and  infallible  dictates  of  God's  Spirit,  in  Paul's 

r,  according  to  wtutt  was  written  in  the  Scriptnrci  of  oA. 


TH«    UUKAI.ITV 


■  Til*:  «\iiiiArK. 


TTt  U  therefnre  but  a  cracking  noi^  of  winOj  words  for  nny  lo 
>Miy  ttmt  tliey  open  do  gap  lo  li(«ntiouji>e^  by  renouncing  ihe 
wriittn  and  external  law  as  their  rule,  coiwideriiis  that  iliej  cleave 
to  a  more  inward  and  better  rule,  viz.,  the  luw  of  the  Spirit 
vrilliin  ;  for  (as  hnlh  been  shown)  liusy  do  indued  renounci'  the 
Holf  Spirit  speaking  in  tlie  rule,  viz.,  tbe  Irw  without,  winch, 
though  it  be  no  rule  of  ihe  Spiril,  (as  eonw  object,)  yet  it  ia  that 
rule  ac«>rding  to  wliiuli  the  Spirit  guides  us  lo  walk,  nod  bj 
which  we  are  to  judge  whether  Uie  guidance  be  the  Spirit's 
I  guidance  or  no. 

•^&!u:tU  88.  Some  Ba.y,  "  that  the  difference  between  ibe  Old 
iTeBt&meat  dispensation  and  the  New,  or  pure  gospel  and  new 
covenant,  is  tbia,  to  wit,  that  the  one,  or  that  of  Moses,  was 
a  ministry  from  without,  and  that  of  Christ  from  wilhin ;  nod 
hence  llicy  say,  that  the  mere  couunandment,  or  letter  of  Scrip- 
ture, is  not  a  law  to  a  CUriijtian  why  lie  should  walk  in  holy 
duties,  but  the  taw  written  on  our  hearts,  the  law  of  life."  But 
if  this  be  the  diifcreuce  between  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
dispensation,  l^e  niini^try  of  tlie  0\i  and  the  miuiatrjof  tbe  New, 
then  let  all  believers  burn  their  Bibles,  ood  cast  all  the  sacred 
vritiugs  of  tbe  New  Testament  and  Old  unto  spiders  and  cob- 
webs in  old  hole-s  and  comers,  aud  never  be  read,  spoken,  or 
meditated  on,  for  these  external  tbings  are  noae  of  Chrial's  iom- 
\  iUrjf  on  which  now  believers  are  to  attend  i/and  then  1  miu'- 
hllT  fthy  the  apostles  preaebed,  or  why  they  writ  the  gospel  for 
after  times,  (for  that  was  the  chief  end  nf  their  writing,  as  it  waa 
of  the  prophets  in  their  times,  Is.  xxJC.  8,)  that  men  might  be- 
lieve, and  believing  have  eternal  life,  and  know  hereby  that  tliey 
have  eternal  life.  (John  xx.  31.  1  John  v.  13.)  For  ekher 
their  writing  and  preaching  the  gospel  wm  not  an  external  aod 
outward  Kiinistry,  (which  'n  cross  lo  common  sense,)  or  it  was  not 
Christ's  ministry,  which  is  blasphemous  to  imagine ;  and  it  is  a 
Tain  shift  for  any  to  say,  that  although  it  was  Christ's  miois- 
try,  yet  it  was  his  ministfy  as  under  the  law,  aad  in  tbe  Beth,  and 
not  in  mere  glory  and  spirit ;  for  it  is  evident  that  llie  ni>OEtIo's 
preachings  and  writings  were  the  effect  of  Christ's  ascension  and 
glory,  (Epb.  iv.  8,  11,)  when  he  was  most  in  ttie  spiril,  and  had 
received  the  spirit  that  he  might  pour  it  out  by  lliii  outward 
ministry,  (Acts  ii.  33 ;)  and  it  is  a  mere  new-oothing  and  dream 
of  Master  Saltmarsh  aud  others,  to  distinguish  between  Cliriet 
in  ^sJliu^jLtid  Chrial^-ia-Uie  Spirit,  as  if  the  one  Cbrist  had  a 
diveiaejainirtqjrom  the  other  :  for  when  the  Comforter  is  come, 
fvhich  is  ChristintEeSpirif,)  what  will  he  do  ?  He  will  lead  (it 
<M  Bali)  unto  all  truth.  (John  xvi,  IS.)     But  what  tnith  will  he 


IB  onto  ?  Verily  to  no  other  (for  suh?innce)  hul  what  Christ 
B  ifae  flesh  had  spoken  ;  nnd  therefore   it  i^  said  (hnt   he   shall 

■  Wing  all  things  to  yuiir  remembrnnce,  whatsoever  I  have  said 
■imio  you,  (John  xiv.  2S ;)  nnd  therefore  (if  I  may  u.'m;  their 

te)  Chtist  in  the  Spirit  leada  us  In  v^hiir  flirwi  in  the  flesh  ' 
.  inniird  Uhrist  lcad«  the  faithful  to  the  ouEwartl  ministry  ( 
P«r  Christ ;  Christ  in  the  SpiiHt  to  Christ  speaking  in  the  leller, 
Ibe  Spirit  of  truth  to  the  word  of  truth,  the  Spirit  within  to  the 
word  without,  by  which  we  shall  be  judged  at  the  lost  ilny,  (John 
^i.  48,)  anil  therefore  certainly  are  lo  be  regulated  by  it  now.  . 
Theiit  89.     It  is  true  that  the  faithful  receive  an  unclioa  or* 
I  an  anointing  of  the  Spirit,  which  teacheth  them  all  things ;  but  ia  I 

■  this  teaching  immediate  or  mediate  ?  If  immediate,  why  doth 
E^ohn  tell  them  th»t  he  writ  to  them  that  hereby  they  might  know 
lUiey  had  eternal  liff?  (1  John  v.  13;)  but'ifit  be  mediate, 
Kvls..  by  the  word  extemaHy  prp^hpil  nr  writ,  (hen  the   eslemal 

■  trord  still  is  lo  be  our  rale,  which  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit 
ftielps  us  to  know  ;  it  is  true,  the  apostle  sailh,  (1  John  ii.  27,) 

■  4fcU  they,  being  taught  of  the  Spirit,  did  not  need  that  any  man 

■  Aould  tfoch  them :  what  then  ?  was  iheir  teaching  therefore  im- 
Vsediaie  ?     No,  verily,  fur  the  apostle  explains  his  meaning  in 

Ibe  words  following,  vix..  olh«;rwise.  and  aftt:r  another  way  and 
■■nner.  then  as  the  Spirit  taught  them,  for  no  the  words  run, 
>*  \o»  need  not  that  any  man  ehould  tearh  you,  but  as  the  anoint- 
g  l«achetb  you  all  things,  nnd  is  truth."  Fur  if  ministers  are 
9  preach  and  write  in  demonsinilion  of  the  Spirit,  then  thoee 
'  '.  hear  tbem,  and  are  taught  by  them,  need  no  man  to  teach 
B  otherwise  than  as  the  Mime  Spirit  in  the  Mime  demonstra- 
I  l«tichetU  them  nil  things.^i  might  be  truly  said  that  the 
n  of  Bereah  did  need  tio  man  to  teach  them  otherwise  than  as 
D  Spirit,  in  compai'ing  and  searching  the  Scriptures,  did  teach 
a  the  things  which  Paul  spake.  And  Calvin  well  observes 
n  ibis  plncf.  that  the  sco[ie  of  the  apostle,  in  these  words,  ia 
ifirm  hi*  doctrine  which  he  writ  to  them,  it  being  no  un- 
it tiling,  but  H  thing  known  to  them  by  the  anointing  of  the 
I,  which  either  they  had  received  by  former  ministry  of  the 
lOr  which  now  thvy  might  receive  by  this  writing  ;  as  there- 
« tlH)  Spirit  lends  us  to  the  wonl,  su  the  word  leads  us  to  the 
^  irit,  but  never  to,j8jHntjviihouiand  l>ey(md  the  word  ;  I  mean 
•  far  forth  as  that  tlie  out war3"agini!itt;init ion  nf  Clirist  in  the 
nb,  or  in  the  word,  or  letter,  mu^t  cease,  and  be  laid  aside,  when 
itiwnrd  adminiyiration  of  Christ  in  the  Spirit  come*. 
TAtli*  UU.  Il  ia  as  weak  an  argument  lo  imagine  that  we  tire  \ 
m  he  led  nnd  |[uidMl  by  any  outward  commands  iu  our  ab«-  1 


Iftccopiplish  rII  the  promises  for  us.  For,  if  the  question  be, 
TT^'iat  are  we  to  live?  Ihe  sposllc'i  nnswer  is  full,  (Gal.  ii. 
19,  20,)  thai  nil  he  did  not  live  but  hj  llic  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God,  so  are  we,  Hot  if  the  question  be.  According  to  what  rule 
are  we  to  lis-e,  and  wherein  are  we  to  live?  the  answer  is 
given  by  pHvid.  (Pa,  cxix,  4,  5.)  "  Tliou  hast  commanded  us  lo 
keep  thy  prccopla  diliscnily.  O  that  my  heart  were  directed  to 
keep  ihy  statutes.  Deal  bountifully  wiih  thy  servant,  that  I  may 
live  and  keep  thy  word."  (ver.  17.)  "  Let  thy  mercy  come  to  me, 
that  I  may  live,  for  ihy  law  ii  ray  delight."  (ver.  77.)  So  that 
if 'the  question  be,  What  is  the  rule  of  faith  by  which  we  live? 
the  answer  is,  Tim  youpml.  (Phil.  iii.  IG.)  But  if  ilie  question 
be.  What  is  Ihe  rule  of  life  itself?  the  answer  is.  The  moral 
law;  and  of  this  latter  is  the  controversy. 

^  Thtnis  91,  The  commanding  will  of  God,  called  rolimtat 
*mandali,  h  lo  be  our  rule,  and  not  the  working  will  of  God, 


■creti,  or  the  will  of  God's 
fulfilling  the  one,  but  we  may  sin    in  fulliliing  the  other. 
'God's  secret  and  working  will  was  fulfilled  when  Joseph's  breth- 
ren sold  him  into  Egypt,  and  when  Nebucliadnexzar  afflicted 
God's   people   seventy   years,   as  also   when   the   scribes    and 
Pharisees  caused  Clirist  to  be  crucified ;  yet  in  all  these  things 
a  they  sinned  and  provoked  God's  wrath  against  tlicni.     How  ? 
"  Was  it  in  crossing  and  thwarting  God's  working  will,  or  the  will 
'   of  God's  decree  ?     No,  verily,  for  it  is  expressly  said,  ihai  Christ 
was  crucified  according  to  the  determinate  counsel  and  will  ot 
God.  (Acta  iv.  28.)     It  was  therefore  by  crossing  God's  com- 
Imanding  will.     It  is  therefore  a  hellish  device  of  libertines  to 
exempt  men  from  all  law,  and  from  the  sense  of  all  sin._   Be- 
I    cause  (say  they)  all  things  good  and  evil  come  from  God's  will, 
and  all  things  tlml  are  done  are  wrought  by  him,  and  all  that 
be  doth  is  good,  and  therefore  all  sinful  actions  are  good,  because 
God  works  ihem  :  tor  what  have  we  lo  do  to  lake  the  measure 
of  our  ways  by  his  working  will  ?     God's  will  is  his  own  rule  to 
wprk  with,  not  our  rule  toworkjjy.     Our  actions  may  be  most 
I  BinHil,  when  Iiis  working  ui  and  about  these  may  be  most  just 
'^  and  holy ;  for  though  God  purgioseth  to  leave  the  creature  lo  fall 
,.  and  sin,  yet  he  so  purposed  it  as  lliat  it  should  be  only  through 
VthuF  "^'o  ^i*"l'  >'»"  *'<'  '''^y  s'"-     ^"^  although  a  Christian  is 
Ho  labmU  humbly  to  tha  just  diaptosaiioua  of  GU>d  wltea  ht 


THE    tlOml-ITr    < 


Imtm  ii 


vil,  yd  God'it  working  will 
be  our  rule,  for  tben  we  m 
AwD  sin,  but  our  own  a&liciioa  nnd  penli 
these  are  coninjneil  under  hii  working  will 
\t  gutitle  and  pernicious  practiuu  in  many 
\  0%-ertaken  wiih  any  ain,  or  hampered 


ATH.  91 

in  all  snch  dispen- 
<il  will  nol  only  our 
on  forever;  for  all 
It  is  therefore  a 
who,  when  they  are 
I,  they  wash  all  off 
.  from  tliemselves,  and  lay  all  tliC  blame  (if  any  be)  upon  God 
'  himself,  ^ayiDg,  The  Lord  lelt  me.  and  he  doih  not  help  me, 
I  and  be  must  do  all.  and  halh  undertaken  lo  do  all ;  if  therefore 
upon  him  be  the  blame ;  or  if  there  be  any  upon  tlieni,  it  la 
but  little.  But  why  should  any  judge  of  the  evil  of  their  sin  by 
God*«  working  will  ?  forthat  is  not  your  rule,  but  the  commanding 
will  of  tied  ;  according  lo  which  Samuel  convinced  Saul  (when 
he  was  left  of  God  to  spare  Agng)  Uiat  his  digobedicnce  agmnst 
tbe  commnndraeni  was  rebellion,  and  aa  the  sin  of  wilchcraA  in 
e  eyes  of  G«l.  (1  Sum.  iv.  23.) 

T^Mi'f  92.  It  is  a  great  part  of  Christ's  love  lo  command  us 
lo  do  any  thing  for  him,  as  well  as  to  promise  to  do  any  thing 
When  the  King  of  glory  halh  given  ua  our  lives  by 
promise,  it  is  then  the  next  part  of  his  Bi«cial  grace  and  favor 
to  roiumnnd  us  lo  »Iand  before  him  and  attend  upon  his  greal- 
iiiinually.  They  ihat  see  how  justly  Ihey  deserve  to  be 
forsaken  of  God,  and  given  over  lo  their  own  hearts'  lusts,  and 
to  be  forever  sinning  and  blaspheming  God  in  hell,  where  God 
vill  never  command  ihem  to  think  of  him,  «peak  of  him,  do  for 
ilim,  pray  to  him  more,  can  not  but  acooani  it  a  high  and  special 
"  fcvor  of  Jesus  Christ  to  command  them  any  thing,  or  bid  them 
my  thing  for  him  ;  a  poor,  humbled  prodigal  will  account  it 
great  love  to  be  made  a  hired  servant :  John  Baptist  will  count 
it  a  high  favor  if  ho  may  but  untie  Christ's  shoe  lalchet,  anH  be 
commanded  by  him  lo  do  the  meanest  work  for  him:  David 
wondered  at  God's  grace  Inward  him,  flial  God  should  command 
him,  and  in  some  measure  enable  him  to  offer  willingly  :  *■  Lord, 
(saith  he)  what  ore  we  ?  "     1  clo  thi^refore  marvel  how  any  can 

Ereiend  that  ihey  are  acted  by  the  luvc  uf  Christ,  and  not  by  Ihe  i 
iw  of  commands,  considering  thai  there  is  so  much  love  tn 
a  for  Christ  to  i»ramnnd,  and  how  they  can  profess  their  relish 
I  of  preaching  God's  free  grate  and  love,  and  yei  can  not  away 
y  with  iwcet  and  gracious  exhortations  pressing  lo  holiness  and  . 
f  holy  duitet,  in  the  revealing  and  urging  of  which  there  is  so  * 
I  Buch  firee  grace  and  heart  love  of  Christ  Jesus :  snrely  if  [he 
I  IvTC  of  Christ  is  to  lead  us,  llien  the  commands  of  Christ  (wl 
I  ID  hs  disovvers  one  chief  pari  of  his  love)  are  to  guide  us, 
a  ml*  of  life  unto  us.     Tha  man  who  in  bis  cog)  aod 


4 


I 


s.  and         H 

dalib-         ■ 

M 


t  orate  thouglilB  imagines  that  a  ChrUtran  under  the  rule  of  ihe 
[  law  ia  a  Christian   unJpr  boiidti^,  may  be  juslly  feared  that 
biiai«If  is  Btill  under  the  I>ondn)i;e  of  sin  and  Salan,  and  never 
yet  knew  what  ihe  true  love  of  Christ  Jesus  is  to  this  day- 

I-  '  Thetit  93.     The  fundamental  error  of  Anttiiomians  ariselh 
from  this  —  in  imagiiiiDg  the  great  difTerence  between  (he  law 
,   and  gospel  lo  be   this,  viz.,  that  the  law   requires  doing,  but 
tlie  gospel  no  doing,  and  that  all  believers,  being  under  "'- '  — 


TTi; 


e  Hierelore  under  no  law  of  doing ;  but  we  raust  knt 
thai,  na  the  gos]iel  esaets  rio'Hoingrihal  thereby  we  may  be  just, 
so  it  requires  doing  also  when  by  Christ  Jesus  we  are  made 

Must.  I  For  if  the  gospel  eommand  us  lo  be  holy  as  God  is  holy, 

'T  (I*  Pet.  i.  15,1  and  perfect  aa  our  heavenly  Father  is  perfect, 

(Matt.  V.  48,)  then  the  goiipel  doth  not  only  require  doing,  but 

'  ntEb  as  much  perfection  of  doing  as  the  law  dolh  ^thc  law  and 
the  p>spcl  require  the  same  perfection  of  holiness,  only  here  is 
ihe  difference,  (which  many  have  not  observed :)  (he  gospel  doll) 
not  urgeJiis  perfection,  nor  require  it  of  us  as  the  Jaw  doth; 
for  the  law  calling  and  urging  of  it  ihnt  so  hereby  we  may  be 
made  jusf.lrilierefore  accepts  of  nbiKing  but  perfection  ;  but  the 
gospel  requiring  it  because  we  are  perft-ctly  just  already  in 
Christ,  hence,  though  it  commands  ua  as  much  as  the  law,  yet 
it  accepts  of  less,  even  the  least  measure  of  sincerity  and  per- 
fection mixed  with  the  greatest  measure  of  imperfection. 
^FJiesit  94.     The  law  (say  some  of  the  Antinoroians)  is  lo  be 

I  kept  as  an  eternal  rule  of  righteousness ;  but  their  meaning  then 
i.S  (hnt  believers  nre  thus  to  keep  it  in  Christ,  who  linth  kept  it 
for  Ihera,  and  if  they  meant  no  more  but  ihat  Christ  bath  kept  it 
lor  righteousness  to  their  justitication,  they  speak  truly ;  but 
their  meaning  herein  is  not  only  in  respect  of  their  justification, 
but  alao  in  respect  of  their  sanciificalion  ;  for  ihey  make  Christ's 
righteousness  to  be  materially  and  formally  their  sanclificBlion  : 
hence  tbcy  sny,  A  believer  hatb  repented  in  Christ,  and  mor- 
tified Bin  in  Christ,  and  that  morlilicalion  and  vivificalion  are 
nothing  but  a  l>elieving  ihat  Christ  hath  morlificd  sin  for  them, 
Hnd  been  quickened  for  thein,  and  that  that  sanctifl cation  which 
is  inherent  in  Cbrisi,  and  not  that  which  is  inherent  in  us,  is  an 
evidence  of  our  justifieaiion.  But  this  principle,  which  confounds 
a  Christian's  juf^tilleution  and  sand ificat ion.  aa  it  casu  the  seed 
of  denying  all  inherent  graces  in  a  believer,  so  it  luy^  the  basis 
of  refusing  lo  do  any  duly,  or  conform  to  any  law  in  our  own 
persons  ;  for  if  this  principle  be  true,  (which  no  orthodox  writer 
doubts  of,)  viz.,  thai  we  aj'e  to  seek  for  no  righteousness  in  our- 
ielvea  to  our  juiililication,  because  we  are  perfectly  just  aud 


THE  MOBALITT   OF   THE   SABBATH.  98 

made  righteous  for  that  end  in  Christ,  then  it  will  undeniably 
foUoWy  that  we  are  not  to  seek  for  any  holiness  and  sanctification 
in  ourselves,  because  we  are  perfectly  sanctified  also  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  hath  repented,  and  believed,  and  mortified  sin  per- 
fectly for  us  in  his  own  person ;  look,  therefore,  as  the  perfection 
of  Christ's  righteousness  to  our  justification  should  make  a 
Christian  abhor  any  personal  righteousness  of  his  own  to  his 
justification,  so  if  we  be  perfectly  sanctified  in  Christ,  then  per- 
fection of  Christ's  holiness  to  our  sanctification  should  make  a 
believer  not  only  renounce  the  law,  but  to  abhor  all  personal 
hotiness  through  the  Sprrit  to  our  sanctification,  and  then  a 
believer  must  abhor  to  seek  any  love  or  fear  of  God  in  his  heart, 
which  is  not  painted  but  profesiBed  pro&neness,  and  the  inlet, 
per  aeeidem^  but  per  4e,  to  all  manner  of  kxMeness  and  wicked 
Bess  IB  the  world.  ~ 

ThewU  ^5.     We  deny  not  but  that  Christ  is  our  sanctification 
as  well  as  our  righteousness,  (1  Cor.  i.  30 ;)  bat  how  ?    Not  ni»- 
terially  Bi^  frMfnAlly^  but  virtually  and  roeritorionslv,  and  {with 
Bleat  expliciUioBs)  exemplarily  ;  our  rigbteousneBa  to  onr  juatifU 
eation  is  iaherent  in  him,  but  our  saS5ificatioB  ip  inhArpnf  in 
oorselvcg,  yet  it  is  derived  from  him,  and  therefore  «t  is  virtually 
aod  meritoriously  only  in  him ;  and  hence  it  is  that  we  are  never  I 
oommaBded  to  justify  ourselves,  unless  it  be  instrumentally  emA  { 
sacnunentanyJwfaenas  we  are  commanded  by  faith  to  wash  our-  | 
ael^-es,  (Is.  i.  16,)  aod*as  Fknl  at  his  baptism  was  commanded  ^||> 
wash  away  his  sins,  (Acts  xxiL  16;)  ^ut  we  are  frequently  aiMA 
aboBdaatly  exhorted  to  repent,  believe,  mortify  our  aifisctions   \ 
Bpoa  earth,  to  walk  in  newness  of  life,  to  be  holy  in  all  manner    I 
of  ootrversation,  etc.,  because  these  things  are  wrought  by  Christ    j 
in  OS  to  our  sanctification,  and  not  wrought  in  Chnst  for  us  as    ( 
our  rigfateoBsness  to  our  justification.  — -'' 

TlsM  96.  They  that  are  in  Christ  are  said  to  be  complete  in 
Christ,  (Col.  iL  10,)  and  that  they  receive  all  grace  from  his 
fillnest,  (John  L  16  ;)  so  that  it  seems  that  there  is  no  grace  in 
themselves,  but  it  is  first  in  him,  and  consequently  tlmt  their 
sanctification  is  perfected  in  him ;  but  we  must  know,  that  though 
the  perfection  and  fullness  of  all  grace  is  first  in  Christ,  yet  that 
believers  have  not  all  in  him  alW  one  and  the  same  manner,  nor 
for  the  tame  end ;  lor  our  righteousness  to  our  justification  is  so 
in  him  as  never  to  be  inherent  in  us,  in  this  or  in  the  world  to  . 
ooroe ;  but  our  righteousness  t6  our  sanctification  is  so  far  in  him, 
as  that  it  is  to.be  derived  and  conveyed  unto  us,  and  hence  it  is 
formally  in  ourselves,  but  meritoriously  aod  virtually  only  in 
him ;  even  as  our  resurrection  and  glorification  at  last  day  are 


.      04  THK    JUlHAMTV    OK    TllK    SAUIlATtf. 

LBOt  H>  in  Chrin  as  never  lo  bi?  ilvrivvd  to  us  (for  ihen  tlic  resur- 
rection were  past  alrtudy.)  but  lliey  are  *o  in  him  as  that  (hey  are 
,  to  be  conveyed  lo  us,  anil  thei'efoi'c  tht:y  are  mentorinuEly  anil 

""■rirtunlly  in  him,  and  we  are  meritoriously  and  viiiually  risen  in 
him :  a  Christian  therefore  may  be  comgiletu  in  Christ,  and  yet 
not  be  perfectly  formally  sanetified  in  Christ,  our  aanclifiualioii 
being  completed  in  hira  after  another  manner,  and  for  other  ends 
than  our  ju^tilicatioa. 

TAetis  97.  The  thief  end  of  Christ's  first  coming  was  to  lay 
down  his  life  a  ransoin  for  many  in  way  of  salistaction  and  merik 
(Phil,  ii,  8.  Matt.  XX.  28.)  Now.  by  this  satisfaction  he  did  two 
things:  ].  He  brought  in  such  a  righteousness  before  God  as 
might  merit  rocrcv  and  make  us  Just.  Now,  this  is  wholly  in 
Christ  out  of  ourselves  ;  but  because  there  was  a  righleousnesa 
of  new  obedience  and  thankfulness  to  be  wrought  in  us  for  this 
love,  therefore,  2.  By  the  same  satisfaction  he  hath  merited,  not 
that  this  new  obedience  might  justify  us  or  make  us  accepted, 
but  that  it  might  be  accepted  though  imperfect  and  polluted  with 
sin,  (1  Pet.  ii.  A,  6,)  as  also  that  it  might  be  crowned  and  rec- 
ompensed. Now,  hence  it  follows,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  not 
performed  our  duty  of  thankfulness  and  new  obedience  for  us, 
iui  hoc  fornudi,  or  as  of  thankfulness;  for  though  Christ  was 
thankful  and  holy  for  us,  yet  it  was  not  under  this  notion  of 
thankfulness  for  his  own  love  to  us,  for  this  is  personally  required 
of  us,  and  it  sounds  very  harsh  to  say  that  Christ  walked  in  all 
holy  thankfulness  lo  himself,  for  his  love  lo  us ;  but  he  was  thus 
thankful  for  us,  «t(i  rati'one  merili,  or  in  way  of  merit,  it  being 
part  of  that  satisfaction  which  justjce  eicacled.  All  that  which 
might  satisfy  justice,  and  merit  any  mercy,  Christ  did  for  us  in 
Iiimself ;  but  he  did  not  believe  and  repent,  and  perform  duties  of 
thankfulness  for  us,  because  these  and  such  like  are  not  to  satisfy 
justice,  but  follow  as  fruits  of  timt  satisfaction,  and  therefore  are 
wrought  within  us,  and  so  are  personally  required  of  us ;  and 
therefore,  when  a  Christian  finds  a  want  of  these  things  in  him- 
self, he  is  not  to  comfort  himself  with  fond  tlioughis  of  the  impu- 

UtOtion  of  these  in  Christ  only  unto  him,  but  he  is  to  look  up  to 

"Christ  Jesus  for  derivation  of  these  out  of  Christ  into  himself; 
othenvise,  by  making  Christ  his  sanctifi cation,  only  in  way  of  im- 
putation, he  doth  really  destroy  Christ  from  being  his  sanctifica- 
tion ;  for  if  Christ  be  our  righteousness  only  by  imputation,  then 
if  Christ  be  our  sanctification,  it  must  be  by  derivation  from  him, 
•which  they  must  needs  destroy  who  make  him  their  sole  sancti- 
£cation  by  mere  imputation. 

'T  '  iTiesi*  98.    Spirilualerror3,likestrong  wine,  make  men's  judg- 


rni;  jiohalitt  i 


95 


Imntsreel  and  stagger,  who  are  drunken  thercwiili ;  and  hence 

~  e  Antinomians  ii|>eak  so  variously  in  llits  point,  that  we  knov 

It  whtre  to  find  tbein,  or  what  tbej  will  stand  ro ;  for  eometimg 

I  Ihey  will  say  that  a  believer  is  free  fi-om  the  kw  in  all  : 

I  Ihority  and  officer;  but  this  being  loo  gross,  at  other  tiroes  they 

I  af)e>k  more  warily,  and  allinn  that  a  Cliritllan  is  to  observe  the 

T  Uw  aa  his  rule  personally,  thus  f»r  forth,  viz.,  to  do  n 

Buinded,  but  not  in  virtue  of  a  command :  the  Spirit,  say  they, 

will  bind  and  conform  their  hearts  to  the  law,  but  they  are  not 

[  bound  by  any  authority  of  the  law  to  the  direcliona  thereof;  the 

I  Spirit,  they  aay,  la  free,  and  they  nre  under  the 

I  iBc  Spirit,  which  is  not  to  be  controlleil  and  ruled  by  any  law. 

i  Now,  if  by  virtue  of  a  command  they  mennt  by  virtue  of  our  J 

l-awn  nMoral  strength  and  abilities  looking  to  the  command,  i 

I  In  true  that  a  believer  is  not  so  bound  to  acl  by  virtue  of  the  law, . 

r  for  then  he  was  bound  to  conlbrm  to  the  law  pharisaically ;  fori 

I  what  ia  our  strength  but  weaknesa  and  sin  ?  I  But  if  by  i ' 

I  a  noibmnnd  they  mean  thn^  much,  vix.,  that  a  believe 

I  boDud  by  the  commanding  power  of  any  law  to  conform  there* 

tinlu.  only  the  Spirit  will  conform  his  heait  thereunto,  go  that  be 

•hull  do  the  things  (perhaps)  which  the  law  requires,  but  not 

I  fatjnui^  the  law  re<]uirea  or  eoramands  them  to  be  done.     If  this, 

I  I  (aj*.  be  their  meaning,  (its  surely  it  seems  Ui  be,)  then  the  mya- 

I  lery  of  this  iniquity  is  so  plain,  that  he  that  runs  may  I'ead  it. 

m  Far  lience  it  undeniably  followa,  that   in  case  a  believer  fall 

t  any  &in  of  whoredom,  murder,  theft,  witchcratY,  etc.,  these 

I  wicked  acts,  tliough  they  be  sins  in  themselves,  (because  Uiey 

I  are  against  ihe  Inw,)  yet  they  are  not  sins  unto  him,  because  ho 

frit  iKrw  act  free  from  the  law,  and  not  bound  to  the  obedience  of 

It  by  virtue  of  any  command ;  for  where  there  is  no  law,  there  is 

■O  transgrestion,  and  if  there  be  no  law  which  binds  him,  there 

it  no  tnuugrewton  then  at  least  unto  him.     They  are  sins  indeed 

a  tbemaelves,  but  not  unio  him ;  they  are  sins  (as  some  say)  to 

but  not  to  faith  ;  sins  in  the  conversation,  but  r 

r:  sins  before  men,  (because  they  may  cross  their 

ts  before  God,  who  exempla  them  from  all  law.     And  i__ 

n  liBRj  lo  reply,  llmt  they  may  be  sins  to  him,  because  tlicy^ 

,.  be  against  ibc  law  of  the  Spirit  which  is  his  rule;  for  wo 

Bbtve  already  sMwn,  that  although  the  Spirit  be  the  principle  by 


t  to  con-  I 
aws,)  but  I 
And  it  id  J 


I 

i 

I 

4 


ivhieh  we  oli|(^,  jet 


r  Mile  iiceording  to  which  we 


mtn  to  obej^  Indeed,  it  is  a  high  aggravation  o 

nat  ib«  .Spirit;  but  In  cross  the  .Spirit  doth  not  firstly  make 

e  things  sinful,  nor  could  they  lie  sins  unless  they  cross  such 

e  holy  law,  the  very  essence  of 


I 


I 


sin  lying  in  Ihe  transgression,  not  o£jU)jJi!Wi_kil.lJl£jbsJaffi.  '■  e-i 
the  knamLmoral  cir^yiiiigelicai  law.  Again ;  if  thme  and  such 
lilte  he  sins,  becHuse  they  are  only  agninst  the  law  of  [he  Spirit, 
then  it  is  no  sin  to  bow  down  before  an  image,  to  commit  SIthi- 
ness,  theft,  etc.,  eupposting  tliat  the  Spirit  sliall  siinpend  his  act, 
and  not  restrain  ;  nay,  then  it  will  follow,  that  sins  of  ignonuicft 
(uf  which  Ihe  Spirit  hath  not  convinced  a.  Christian)  are  no  bIdb, 
nur  to  be  repented  of,  which  is  expressly  cross  to  the  holy  pmc- 
liue  of  David :  "  Who  knows  his  errors  ?  Lord,  cleanse  me  from 
my  aepret  sins."  If  sin  therefore  be  tho  Iranspression  of  the  law, 
(whether  the  Spirit  work  upon  a  Christian  or  no.)  then  certainly, 
if  he  he  under  no  commanding  power  of  the  law,  he  can  not  be 
gnilty.  or  be  eaid  to  commit  tiny  sin  ;  and  liien  the  conclusion  is 
this,  that  every  believer  neither  hath  sin,  or  should  say  he  doth 
stOi  no,  not  when  he  commits  murder,  adultery,  and  the  foulest 
I  enorroilies  in  the  world  :  wliifh  doctrine,  though  so  directly  and 
expressly  aguinst  the  light  of  Scripture,  the  coufeMions  of  all  the 
Hints,  yea,  of  the  light  of  nature  and  common  sense,  and  is  the 
TCry  fllih  of  the  froth  of  the  fume  of  the  tiotlomless  pit,  yet  some 

nBere  are  who  are  not  oEhamed  to  own  ii,|the  very  jSoflo;  and 
depth  of  a  perfect  Familist  consisting  in  this,  viz.,  when  a  man 
Cftn  sin  and  never  feci  it,  or  have  any  remorse  or  soitow  for  ii, 
snd  when  one  hath  attained  to  this  measure,  he  is  then  deified, 
and  then  lb»'y  profess  the  Godhead  doth  prtere  fimdum  anima, 
(ae  ihey  call  it.)  when  believing  thai  he  hath  no  sin,  he  can 
therefore  neitlier  see  it  nor  feel  it.  From  which  depth  of  dark- 
ness the  God  and  Faliier  of  mercies  deliver  his  poor  people  in 
these  oomipling  times,  and  I  wish  that  those  who  defend  this 
kind  of  B  believer's  immunity  from  the  law  did  not  lay  this  cor- 
ner stone  of  hell  and  perdition  to  their  followers.  I  am  sure 
they  lead  them  hereby  lo  liie  month  of  this  pit,  who,  upon  this 
principle,  refuse  either  to  mourn  for  sin,  or  pray  tor  pardon  of 
ain,  or  to  imagine  that  Goil  alllicls  for  sin,  being  now  freed  from 

I  the  mandatory  power  of  any  law  of  God,  they  being  now  not 

I  bound  to  act  by  virtue  of  any  command.  ^ 

lltetit  'J9.     If  God  did  work  upon  believerB  as  upon  blocks  or 
brute  creatures,  they  miglit  then  liave  some  color  to  cast  off  all 

'  ftttendance  to  the  directive  power  of  the  law,  and  so  leave  all  to 
the  Spirit's  omnipotent  and  immediate  acta ;  as  the  stars,  which 
being  irrational  and  incapable  of  acting  by  any  rule,  they  are 
therefore  acted  and  run  their  course  by  the  mighty  woi-d  of  God'a 
power,  and  therefure  attend  no  rule ;  but  believers  are  rational 

I  oreotures,  aod  therefore  capable  of  acting  by  rule,  and  tliey  are 
also  sanctified  and  delivered  from  the  power  of  their  corrupt 


A  tbererorc  have  gome  ialii^rent  power  fto  lo  net ;  for  if 
v  deati  in  treE|)Bsscs  and  sins,  ihey  Lave  then 
p.  life,  and  therefore  some  inherent  power  to  act,  accord' 
J  to  the  rule  of  life :  the   image  of  Go<l,  renewed  in  them,  is 
■  part)  like  to  the  same  image  which  they  hud  in  the  lirat  erea- 
m,  which  ^ve  <mui  some  liberty  and  power  lo  act  accoating Jo 
t  will  of  Him  that  creatt^  htm.  /  And  if  the  first  Adam,  b;  hjs 
anveys  to  ui,  not  only  coodera nation ,  but  ubo  an  inherent 
r  of  coiTupiion,  then  the  second  Ailara,  the   Lord  Jesuii, 
more  conveys  unio  all  his   posterity,  not  only  juatilitiulion, 
II  also  »ontc  inherent  power  of  grace  and  holiness,  which  id 
■gun  here,  and  perfeeted  in  glory ;  for  as  sin  hath  abound ed.  so 
'>'*'.  nboundcth  much  more:   and    yet  suppose   lliey  had  no"' 
il  power  tliuii  to  act,  yet  they  have  an  adherent  power,  tlie 
J  Christ  Jesus,  by  faith  in  whose. name  they  may  nnd  shJL 
e  power  to  act     And  therefore/all  hough  Goil  works  in  us  | 
9  will  and  lo  do  of  his  good  pleasure,  yet  this  hinders  not  I 
i  that  we  are  lo  work  out  our  salraiion  with  fear  and  trem-  1 
ig,  by  attending  ilie  rule,  by  virtue  of  which  we  are  bound  to  I 
Brk,  both  by  pulling  forth  that  power  which  we  have  already  I 
soi'tid  from  God,  as  also  in  fetching  in  that  power  we  have  not  | 
I  receivetl,  but  is  reserved  daily  in  Christ's  bands  for 
IS  ihcreunio. 

I  100.     If  they  that  say  a  believer  is  not  lo  act  by  virtus 

n  ooRimand  do  mean   ibis  only,  vii.,  ihat   he   is   not  to  act  by 

s  of  tJie  bare  letter  and  external  words  and  syllables  of  it, 

J  tiuM  speak  truly ;  for  such  kind  of  acting  is  rather  witchery 

in  ChrisUauity,  to  place  power  and  virtue  in  bare  characters 

il  lo(l«r«i  which,  though  mighty  and  powerful  by  the  Spirit,  yet 

mp(y  and  powerless  without  it.     But  if  their  meaning  be, 

re  aro  not  to  act  by  virtue  of  any  command  in  any  sense, 

a  llin  iisacrtioji  is  both  jiemicious  and  perilous ;  for  the  Lord 

I  bning  the  rttfinay  dE/ati>Di',  or  lirsl  subject  of  all  grace 

i  gracious  efficacy  and  power,  hence  it  is  true,  wo  are  not  tu 

*  e  tlio  command  of  God  the  first  principle  of  our  obedieore, 

hi*  it  proper  unto  Cbrifet  by  the  Spirit.   (John  v.  40  ;  x\i.  13, 

2  Tim.  iu  1.     Eph.  vi.  10.     llom.  viii.  2.)     But  because 

t  Lord  JwuA  conveys  by  bis  Spirit  virtue  and  efficacy  through 

it  word,  not  only  words  of  promise,  but  also  words  of  command, 

ia  ovtdcnl,  Jer.  iii,  2:2;  Acts  ii.  3H.  41  i  Matt.  ix.  9;  Ps. 

.  ft.)  hence  il  is    that   a    believer   is  bound  to  act  from  a 

md,  though  not  as  from  a  first,  yet  as  from  a  second  prin- 

>t  OS  from  the  first  efficient,  yet  as  from  an  instru- 

1  the  hand  uf  Christ,  who  in  commanding  of  the  duly 


s,  lol 


1 
I 

4 


I 


t 


98 


THE   MORA  I 


works  bj-'ii,  and  enables  li 
comes  out  of  liU  own  rount 
God  to  follow  him  be  kt 
Peter  ccut  his  net  ii 


;  aiid  therefore  we  see  Abraham 
because  called  and  commiinded  of 
iibt  whithev.  (Heb.  si.  8.)  And 
raerelj  because  he  was  command- 
ed. (Luke  V.  5.)  And  Dnvid  deaired,  O  that  my  heart  were 
directed  to  keep  thy  precepts,  because  God  had  commanded. 
(Ts.  cxix.  45.)  There  is  n  virtue,  a  m  or  efhcacy  in  the  final 
cause,  as  well  as  in  the  efficient,  to  produce  the  efTect,  and  every 
wise  agent  is  bound  to  Act  by  virtue  or  for  the  sake  of  his 
utmost  and  last  end.  Now,  the  naked  commandment  of  the  Lord 
may  be  and  should  be  the  chief  motive  and  last  end  of  our  obedi- 
ence to  his  highness;  for  whalever  is  done  merely  because  of 
God's  command  is  done  for  his  glory,  (which  glory  should  be  our 
utmost  end  in  all  our  obedience ;)  and  hence  it  is  that  that  obe- 
dience is  most  absolute  and  sincere  (whether  it  be  in  doing  or 
suffering  the  will  of  God)  which  is  done  merely  in  respect  of 
commandment  and  will  of  God;  when  the  soul  can  truly  say. 
Lord,  I  should  never  submit  to  such  a  yoke  but  merely  for  thy 
Bake,  and  because  it  is  thy  will,  and  thou  dost  command  it.  What 
is  it  to  love  Christ  but  to  seek  lo  please  bim,  aud  lo  give  con- 
tentment to  bim  ?  What  is  it  to  seek  to  give  contentment  to 
him  hut  to  give  contentment  to  his  heart  or  his  will  ?  And  what 
is  his  will  but  the  will  of  his  commandment  ?  If  therefore  it  be 
unlawful  to  act  by  virtue  of  a  command,  then  it  is  unlawful,  1.  To 
love  Christ;  2.  To  be  sincere  before  Christ;  S.  Or  to  act  for 
the  glory  of  Christ.  And  hence  it  is,  that,  let  a  man  do  the  most 
glorious  things  in  the  world  out  of  his  own  supposed  good  end, 
^aa  the  blind  Papists  do  in  their  will  works  and  aupersli lions,) 
which  God  never  commanded,  nay,  let  him  do  all  things  which 
the  law  of  God  requires,  give  his  goods  lo  the  poor,  and  his  body 
to  be  burnt,  and  yet  not  do  these  things  because  commanded,  let 
him  then  quit  himself  from  hypocrisy  and  himself  fi-om  being 
R  deep  hypocrite  in  all  tliese  if  he  can.  Surely  those  who 
strain  at  this  gnnt,  viz.,  not  to  do  a  duty  because  commanded, 
will  make  no  bones  of  swallowing  down  this  eameU  viz.,  not  to 
forsake  sin  because  it  is  forbidden ;  and  whosoever  shall  forsake 
gin  from  any  other  ground  shows  manifestly  hereby  that  he  buili 
little  conscience  of  God's  command.  I  know  the  love  of  Christ 
should  make  a  Christiiin  forsake  every  sin ;  but  the  last  resolution 
and  reason  thereof  is,  because  his  love  forbids  us  to  continue  in 
«D ;  for  to  act  by  virlue  of  a  command  is  not  to  act  only  as  a 

God  considered  as  a  Creator,  but  by  virtue  of  the  w 
Hid  commandment  of  God  in  a  Redeemer,  with  whom  a  believer 
bath  n 


Till:   UORALITY    OF  THK   SAOUATII.  99 

TTtttit  101.  To  act  tlier^fore  by  virtue  of  a  commtmd,  and  by 
virtue  of  Christ'^  Spirit,  are  subordinate  one  to  another,  not 
opposite  one  against  another,  us  tbese  men  carry  it ;  this  cau- 
lU>n  being  ever  remembered,  that  eunh  acting  be  not  to  make 
oiir«elved  just,  but  because  we  are  already  just  in  Christ  j  not 
tlial  hereby  we  might  get  life,  but  becuuse  we  have  life  given  us 
already ;  not  to  jwcify  God's  justice,  but  to  pleaae  his  m' 
being  i>acified  toward  us  by  Christ  already ;  for  nspunius 
observes  a  great  difference  between  plaoare  Deum  and  place, 
Dto,  i.  e.,  between  pacifying  God  and  pleasing  God,  for  Christ'e 
blood  only  can  pacify  justice  when  it  is  provoked,  but  when  i 
veuging  justice  ia  pacified,  mercy  may  be  pleased  with  the  b 
cere  and  humble  obedience  of  eons./(Col.  i.  It).  Heb.  xiii.  2 
When  n  believer  'm  once  justified,  he  can  not  be  made  more  ji 
by  nil  his  obedience,  nor  less  just  by  all  his  sins  in  point  ofjusti- 
ficnlion,  which  is  perfected  at  once ;  but  he  who  is  perfectly  just- 
ified li  but  impeiTectly  sanctified,  and  in  this  respect  may  more 
or  leas  please  God  or  displease  him,  be  more  just  or  less  just  and 
holy  before  him.  It  is,  I  confess,  a  secret  bat  a  common  sin  it 
many  to  seek  to  pacify  God  (when  they  perceive  or  fear  hli 
anger)  by  some  obedience  of  their  own,  and  m)  to  seek  for  that  in 
Ihenuclvej  chieily  which  they  should  seek  for  in  Christ,  and  for 
ttuit  in  the  law  which  is  onlf  to  be  found  in  the  gospel ;  but 
eorrupl  practices  in  others  should  not  breed,  as  usually  they  do, 
corrupt  opinions  in  us,  and  to  cast  off  the  law  from  being  a  rule 
of  pleasing  God,  because  it  is  no  rule  to  us  of  pacifying  of  God, 
For  if  we  speak  of  revenging  (not  fatherly)  anger,  Christ's 
blood  con  only  pacify  iliat,  and  when  that  is  pacified  and  God 
in  MUisfied,  our  obedience  now  pleaseth  him,  and  his  mercy 
Accepts  it  as  very  pleasing,  the  rule  of  which  is  the  precious  law 
of  God. 

7%ait  102.  They  that  say  the  law  is  our  rule  as  it  is  given 
by  Chmt.  but  not  as  it  was  given  by  Moses,  do  speak  niceties,  at 
l«ut  ambiguities ;  for  if  the  Lord  Christ  give  the  law  to  a  be- 
liever as  his  rule,  why  should  any  then  raise  a  dust,  and  allirm 
that  the  law  i^  not  our  rule  ?  For  the  law  may  be  considered 
cither  materially,  or  in  itself,  as  it  contains  the  matter  of  the  \ 
ooveiuuit  of  works;  and  thus  considered,  a  believer  is  not  to  bo. I 
reguUtcd  by  it,  for  he  is  wholly  free  from  it  as  a  covenant  of 
lifn  i  Of  it  may  be  considered  finally,  or  rather  relatively,  as  it 
Mnod  in  relation  and  reference  unto  the  people  of  the  God  of 
AlmthMU,  who  were  already  under  Abraliain's  covenant,  which 
«ru  a  covenant  of  free  gnux,  vie.,  "  to  be  his  God,  and  the  God 
ofbit  Med."  (Gen.  xvii.  7.)     And  in  this  Utter  respect,  the  law, 


I 


» 


I 


Hit  wfis  girttn  by  Mosys,  was  given  by  Christ  in  Mosc?,  and  ibere- 
fiire  tbe  rule  of  love  toward  mail  (commanded  by  Moses)  is 
called  the  law  of  Christ.  (GrI.  vi.  2.)  For  the  law,  as  it  van 
applieil  lo  this  people,  doth  not  run  tbas,  viz.,  "  Do  all  thia,  and 
then  I  will  be  your  God  and  Redeemer,"  (for  this  is  n  covenant  of 
works.)  but  thus,  viz.,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,"  {vit.,  by  Abra- 
ham's covenant,)  "  who  brought  tiiee  ont  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
and  house  of  bondage ;  therefore  thou  sbalt  do  all  this."  If  there- 
fore the  law  ddivered  by  Moses  was  delivered  by  Christ  in 
Moses,  then  there  is  no  reason  to  set  Christ  and  Moses  together 
by  the  ears,  in  this  respect  I  now  spet^  of,  and  to  aHim]  that  the 
law,  not  as  dehvered  by  Moses,  but  aa  given  by  Christ,  is  our 
few  and  rule. 

TXmiV  103.  The  law  therefore  which  contains  in  itself  absolute- 
ly considered  (which  Lulher  calls  filoses  Mosissirans)  the  cove- 
nant of  works,  yet  relatively  considered  as  it  yas  delivered  by 
Moses  to  a  people  under  u  covenant  of  grace,  (which  the  same 
author  calls  Moses  Aaronicus,)  so  it  ia  not  to  be  considered  only 
as  a  covenant  of  works,  and  therefore  for  any  to  nffirm  that  the 
law  is  no  covenant  of  works,  as  it  is  delivered  on  Mount  Sion, 
snd  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  it  is  a  covenant  of  works  only,  as 
it  is  delivered  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  by  Moses,  is  a  bold  assertion, 
both  unsafe  and  unsound  ;  for  if,  affit  was  delivered  on  Mount  Si- 
nai, it  was  delivered  to  a  people  nnder  a  covenant  of  grace,  then 
it  was  ool  delivered  to  lliem  only  as  a  covenant  of  works,  for 
then  ft  people  under  a  covenant  of  grace  may  again  come  under 
K  covenant  of  works,  to  disaniitd  that  covenant  of  grace ;  but 
the  apostle  expressly  affirms  the  qaite  contrary,  and  sbows  that 
the  covenant  tnade  with  Abraham  and  his  seed,  (which  was  to  be 
a  God  to  them,  Gen.  xvii.  7,)  and  which  was  conflrmed  before  of 
God  in  Christ,  the  law,  which  was  four  hundred  and  thirty 
yean  after,  ean  not  diMinnnl.  (Gal.  iii.  17.)  Now,  that  the 
peD)ile  were  »rider  a  covenant  of  grace  when  the  law  was  deliv- 
ered on  Mount  Sinai,  let  the  preface  of  the  ten  commandments 
determine,  wherein  Gwl's  first  words  are  words  of  grace,  "  I  am 
the  Lord  thy  God,"  etc.,  and  therefore  thou  shalt  have  no  oiher 
gods  but  me,  etc.  I  know  Paneus,  Zanchy,  and  others  affirm 
that  the  law  is  abrogated  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Moses,  but 
not  M  it  is  in  the  hand  of  Christ ;  but  their  meaning  is  at  sometime 
in  respect  of  the  manner  of  administration  of  the  taw  under 
Moses,  and  when  they  speak  of  the  moral  law  simply  consid- 
ered, yet  it  never  entered  into  their  hearts,  that  the  law,  as  deliv- 
ered on  Mount  Sinai,  was  delivered  only  aa  a  covenant  of  works. 


THE    MOKAI.ITV    OK    llIK    >,ABB\Tn.  101 

TTtrtit  104.     But  there  is  a  greater  mystery  iniended  by  some 

in  this  phrase,  as  given  by  ChrUt,  for  tlicir  meaning  ia  tbis,  to 

wit.  as  Chriat  by  bis  Spirit  writes  it  in  our  hearts,  nut  any  vrtty 

A  rule  as  wniien  by  Moses.     A  believer's  heart  (sailh  Master 

Sftltmarsh)  is  the  very  law  of  <^omraands,  and  the  two  tables  of 

Hoses,  and  in  tbis  respect  it  becomes  not  (sailh  he)  the  glory  of 

Christ  to  be  beholding  to  any  of  the  light  upon  Moses'  ftu'e.     It 

■eem-s  then,  ibat  the  law  written  is  not  to  be  n  Christian's  rule, 

I    but  only  so  far  as  it  is  written  in  the  heart  —  a  most  accursed  as- 

I    aertion  ;  for  how  and  why  did  Christ  Jesus  himself  resist  temp- 

,    bUioD  to  sin  ?     Was  it  not  by  cleaving  to  the  written  word  ? 

iSIatt.  xliv.  10  :)  and  was  liot  this  done  for  our  imitation  ?  Wby 
id  David  and  Clirist  Jesus  delight  to  do  God's  will  ?  Was  it  not 
Uiis,  because  it  was  written  of  tliera  that  so  ihey  should  do  ?  (Ps. 
xl.  7, 8.)  Did  not  the  Liw  in  their  hearts  make  them  thus  cleave  to 
r  the  wriil4!o  law  without?  Why  did  Paul  persuade  children  to  hoo- 
«r  ibeir  parents  ?  Was  it  not  because  this  wns  the  first  command- 
mctit  with  promise?  (Eph.  vi.  2.)     Had  it  not  been  more  eran- 

Elically  spoken  to  persuade  them  rather  to  look   to  the   law  of 
Dsei  written  on  their  hearts  within,  lo  direct  them  hereunto, 
rather  than  to  be-  beholding  for  any  light  upon  Muses'  face  to 
,    direct  them  herein  ?    How  comes  it  to  pii^  that  Paul   preacheth 
•o  olh«r  thing  but  what  was  in  the  Old  Toslament  of  Moses  and 
Ihe  prophets  who  were  only  ibe  interpreters  of  Mo^es?  (Acts 
1  xxii.  20.)  How  is  it  that  Clirist  himself  borrows  light  from  Mosesi 
[  Psalms,  and  all  tlie  prophets,  lo  clear  up  his  resurrection  and  suf- 
fering. (Luke  sxiv.  '27, 32,)  if  no  light  must  be  borrowed  from  the 
I  Ace  of  Moses?     If  indeed  we  were  perfect  in  this  life  as  we 
[  Aall  be  in  heaven,  there  would  then  be  no  need  of  the  writings 
[  af   the  BpiMtle>i.  prophets,  or   Moses,  of  law  or  gospel  ;  but  we 
I  being  but  imperfectly  enlightened,  it  is  no  less  than  extreme  lo- 
L  pwitude  and  ant  hank  fulness  lo  prefer  our  own   imperfect  and 
I,  impure  light  before  that  perfect,  spotless,  and  heavenly  law  and 
I  eounaels  of  God  without  us/which  when  the  most  perfei-t   be- 
[  Sever  doth  see,  he  may  cry  out  with  Paul,  "  The  law  is  holv, 
I  bdl  I  am  camnl."     What  is  this  but  painted  Popery,  to  muCel 
kthe  spirit  within  lo  be  the  supreme  Judge,  and  su[>erior  lo  the  ■ 
■  Spirit  of  God   in  the  written  word  without?  only  they  shrine  ilj 
he  pope's  private   conclave  and  kitchen,  or   somewliiit 
I'WOTM,  but  these  in  a  company  of  poor,  iraperfeci,  deluded,  and 
f 'prrhape  rarrnpfed  men  :  it  is  true,  the  covenant  of  grace  (strictly 
l^taken)  in  thcgos]>el  needs  not  to  borrow  any  light  from  the  cov- 
unt  of  worits  in  the  law  ;  but  yet,  fur  all  this,  the  grucu  of  God, 
I'^pearing  id  the  gospel,  will  have  ui  to  walk  worthy  of  God 


J 


I 

I 


unto  all  well  plen^ing  acvonllng  lo  the  Iftw,  (Til.  ii.  12,  13,)  and 
bilterlj  that  we  nrc  so  unlike  thu  will  and  image  of  God 
reri^nled  in  the  law.  (Ham.  vii.  23.  24.) 

i(  105.  Tiic  BjKislle  Paul,  as  he  sometimes  condemna 
works  and  sometimes  commendB  tliem,  po  he  Rometimcs  rejecia 
the  law  utid  sometimes  uommends  the  law  ;  aoinetinieii  be  would 
liBve  believers  die  to  tho  biw,  and  sometimes  he  exhortfi  them 
to  live  in  all  holy  obedience  to  it :  the  ajiaslle,  therefore,  must 
■pe»k  of  ihe  law  under  various  considerations,  or  else  must  speak 
daggers  and  flat  contradictions ;  and  therefore  of  net-essiij  we 
are  to  consider  the  law  not  always  under  one  respect,  but  vari- 
ously i  for  consider  tin:  law  as  a  covcliant  of  works,  or  as  the  way 
unto  or  matter  of  our  jus  I  ill  cat  ion,  and  so  works  are  condemned, 
and  ihc  law  is  rejected  and  abrogated,  and  so  we  are  lo  die  to 
the  law  i  but  consider  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  to  a  person  justified 
already,  and  ao  the  law  is  to  be  received,  and  works  are  lo  be 
commended,  and  wc  arc  lo  live  thereunto. 

Theiii  106,  When  the  gospel  nakedly  ui^lh  believers  lo 
good  works  and  obedience  to  the  law,  it  is  then  considered  only 
U  a  rule  of  life;  hut  when  we  meet  with  ouch  ecriplures  ns  set 
the  law  and  Christ,  the  law  and  grace,  the  law  and  promise,  the 
law  and  faith,  etc,  at  opposition  one  against  another,  then  Ihe  law 
in  such  places  is  ever  considered  as  a  covenant  of  life,  from 
.which  we  are  wholly  freed,  and  unto  which  we  should  be  wholly 
dead,  tjiat  w^  may  be  married  unto  Chrlst^Rom.  vii.  4 ;)  hence 
therefore  their  arguings  are  feeble  and  weak,  who  would  prove  a 
Christian  to  be  wholly  free  from  the  directive  power  of  the  law, 
because  a  Christian  is  said  not  to  be  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace,  (Rom.  vi.  14,)  and  because  the  law  was  given  by  Moses, 
but  grace  and  truth  came  by  >Fesus  Christ,  (John  i.  17.)  and  bu- 
eause  the  inheritance  ts  not  by  the  law,  but  by  promise  and  by  faith, 
(Gal.  iii.  12,  18;)  for  these  and  such  like  scripiui-es  speak  of  the 
uw  as  standing  in  opposition  to  Christ,  and  therefore  speak  of  it 
as  of  a  covenant  of  life,  by  which  men  seek  to  be  justified; 
from  which  (we  grant)  a  l>elievcr  is  wholly  freed,  and  unto 
which  he  is  not  bound,  tiaj.  he  is  bound  to  renounce  it,  and  east 
outtlib  bond  woman;  but  all  this  doih  not  prove  tliat  he  is  free 
from  it  as  his  rule  of  life. 

T/tftii  107.  The  law  and  man's  sinful  heart  are  quite  op- 
posite one  to  another,  (Rom.  vii.  9. 10,  II,  13;)  bul  when  (through 
the^raceof  Chridt)  (he  liearlischan){ed,  soas  there  is  a  new  nature 
or  new  man  in  a  believer,  theu  there  is  a  sweet  agreement  be- 
tween this  new  nature  and  the  law,  for,  saith  Paul,  "  I  delight 
Vihelawof  God  in  my  iauw  man."     It  ia  ifaentfor*  a  humi 


THE    MORA! 


;■     Of    1 


iABHATH. 


103 


a  believer  is  to  be  kept 
alure,  is  above  all  law ; 
a  legal  covenant,  yet  it 


&l«e  assertion  lo  say  lliat  llie  old  m 

ODder  tbe  law,  but  the  new  man. or 

for  iboiigh  the  new  nature  be  almve 

oerer  cornea  to  be  willingly  under  it  as  a  rule  unill  now  : 

perfect  new  nature  U  infinitely  glad  of  the  guidance  of  a  holy  I 

And  most  perfect  law.  (Ps.  cxix.  UO.)  _  1 

nen't  108.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  children  and  sons  of 
God  tinder  tbe  New  TestDoient  are  not  so  under  the  law  a^  the 
diildren  and  sons  of  God  were  under  the  Old  Testament  for 
the  apoitle  expreasly  lells.  (Gnl.  iii.  23.)  that  before  the  faith 
came,  wc  (L  e.,  the  children  of  the  Old  Testaraeni)  were  shut  up 
■nd  kept  under  the  law,  and  were  under  it  as  under  a  Rchool- 
Basler.  (ver.  ii;)  and  these  of  whom  the  apostle  thus  speaks  are 
M>t  only  wicked  and  carnal  Jews,  but  the  dear  children  of  God 
■nd  heirs  of  eternal  life  in  iliose  times,  as  is  evident  from  Gal. 
IT.  1-3  :  but  (he  apostle,  speaking  of  tbe  sons  of  God  in  gospel 
tines,  since  faith  is  come  and  revealed,  speaks  as  expressly  that 
we  are  now  no  lonfi;er  under  tbe  law  as  under  a  schoolmaster, 
{Gal.  iii.  io.)  and  that  now,  "  when  the  fullness  of  ^me  is  come, 
God  sent  his  Son,  to  redeem  ihem  that  were  under  tbe  law,  that  we 
Biigbl  receive  the  adoption  of  sons,"  (Gal.  iv.  3-5  ;)  which  though 
it  be  true  of  all  men  by  nature,  viz.,  that  they  are  under  the 
law,  yet  an  impartial,  clear  eye  will  easily  discern  that  tbe  apoa- 
tie's  dispute  is  not  of  our  being  under  the  law  by  nature  merely, 
but  of  being  under  the  law  by  peculiar  dii^pensation,  which  was 
the  state  not  only  of  the  Jewi.sh  churcii,  but  of  the  children 
of  God,  heirs  of  tlie  promise  (and  conseriuently  such  as  were 
believers)  in  ibis  church,  in  those  Old  Tet^Iament  times; 
«e  are  not  therefore  now,  in  these  New  Testament  times,  under 
Ibv  law,  at  iliey  were ;  the  great  diliiculty  therefore  remains  lu 

1  know  bow  wo  are  not  under  tbe  taw,  as  they  were.  Those  who 
ny  wc  are  not  under  the  ceremonial  law.  as  they  were,   do 

'  spMik  truly ;  but  they  do  not  resolve  the  difficulty  in  this 
_ '  p* ;  for  I'crtaiiily  the  apostle  speaks,  not  only  of  the  ceremo- 
nial law,  but  aldo  of  that  law  which  was  given  because  of  trans- 
greasions,  (GaL  iii.  li*,)  and  which  shut  up,  not  only  the  Jews, 
but  all  men,  under  sin,  (ver.  22  ;)  which  being  ihe  power  of  the 
■Ktral  law  chietly,  the  apostle  must  therefore  intend  the  moral 

,  law,  oader  which  the  Old  Testament  believers  were  shut  up,  and 
now  are  not :  the  doubt  therefoi'e  still  remains,  viz.,  how  are 
n«l  now    under   tbe   moral  law  ?     Will  s 


arc  not  now  under  the 


laledicl 


I  af  il,  but  the  Jeni  under  ihe  OUl  1 
I  •vn  lUHkr  tiM  curM  »f  ii ' 


tny  say  that  i 
^  and  condemnalio 
were  thus  under  i 
!  tbe  neauinf ;  f«r 


I 


» 


p 


allhough  the  carnal  Jews  were  tbiis  under  it,  yet  the  ftiithrul 
(whiim  the  apostle  calls  tlie  heir  atiJ  Lord  of  all,  GaL  iv.  1) 
were  not  thus  under  it,  for  believers  were  as  oiueli  blessed  then 
with  faithful  Abraham  as  believerfi  now.  (Cup.  iii.9.)  How  then 
are  we  not  under  il,  aa  they  were  ?  Is  it  in  this,  Ihat  they  were 
under  it  ua  a  rule  of.  lifejojvalk  ^7-  an*l  so  ai'e  not  we  ?  Thus 
indeed  some  strain  the  place,  but  this  can  not  be  it ;  for  the  apos- 
tle in  this  very  epistle  presseth  them  to  "  love  one  another,"  upon 
this  ground,  because  "nil  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  love,"  (cap.  v. 
13,  14  ;1  and  this  walking  in  love  according  to  the  law  ia  walk- 
ing in  [fie  spirit,  (ver.  16,)  and  (hey  that  thus  walk  in  Ihe  spirit, 
according  to  the  law,  are  not  (snith  the  apostle)  under  ibe  law, 
which  can  not,  without  flat  contradiction,  be  meant  of  not  being 
under  the  rule  or  directive  power  of  it ;  and  it  would  be  a  tnis- 
erable  weak  motive  to  press  them  to  love,  because  all  the  law  ia 
fulfilled  in  love,  if  the  law  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  any  rule  of 
life  or  of  love ;  for  they  might  upon  such  a  ground  easily  and  Justly 
obect,  and  say.  What  have  we  to  do  with  the  law  ?  If  we  therefore, 
OS  well  as  they,  are  thus  under  the  law  as  a.  rule  of  life,  how  are 
we  not  under  it  as  they  were  ?  Is  it  because  ihey  were  under  it  as 
a  preparative  means  for  Christ,  and  not  we  ?  They  were  under 
the  humbling  and  terrifying  preparing  work  of  it,  but  not  we, 
I  There  are  some,  indeed,  who  think  ihm  this  use  of  the  law  under 
'the  gospel  is  but  a  back  door,  or  an  Indian  palh,  or  a  crooked 
way  about,  to  lead  to  Jeeus  Christ;  but  certainly  these  men 
^know  not  what  they  snjJtot  the  text  expressly  tells  us  that  the 
Scripture  hasconcluded.not  only  Ihe  Jews,  but  "oil  under  sin,  that 
so  the  promise  by  faith  might  be  given  to  ibcm  that  believe." 
{Gal.  iii.  22.)  So  that  the  law  is  subservieut  to  faith,  and  to  the 
promise,  that  so  hereby  not  only  the  Jews,  but  all  that  God  saves, 
might  hereby  feel  their  need,  and  lly  by  faith  to  the  promise 
made  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  verily,  if  Christ  be  the  end  of  (he 
taw  to  every  one  that  believes,  (Kom.  x.  4,)  then  the  law  is  Ihe 
means,  (not  of  itself  so  much  as  by  the  rich  grace  of  God.)  not 
only  to  the  Jews,  but  to  all  others  to  the  end  of  the  world,  to 
lead  them  to  this  end,  Christ  Jesus.  If  therefore  the  faithful 
under  the  New  Testament  are  thus  under  the  preparing  work  of 
the  law,  aa  well  as  those  under  the  Old,  how  were  they  therefore 
RO  under  the  law,  as  we  are  not,  and  we  not  under  it  as  they 
were  ?  I  confess  the  place  is  more  full  of  difRculliea  than  is 
usually  Dbser\-ed  by  writers  upon  it ;  only  for  the  clearing  up  of 
this  doubt,  omitting  many  things,  I  answer  briefly,  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Old  Testament  were  under  the  law,  and  the  peda- 
gogy of  it,  two  ways,  after  which  the  children  of  the  New  Testa- 
ntent  are  not  under  it  now,  but  are  rodeemed  from  it. 


THE    MORALITY    or   TDK    SABBATH.  105 

1.  At  t)ie  mora]  Uw  waa  accompanied  with  a  namlierot'barden- 
•orae  Fcrt-monies,  ibui!  we  are  not  under  il,  tlins  they  were  under 
U ;  for  we  know  this  law  was  put  inio  the  ttrk,  and  there  they 
were  lolook  npon  it  in  thai  type;  if  any  inan  then  committed  any 
BID  H^nst  il,  whether  through  infirmity,  ignorance,  or  presump- 
tion, they  were  to  have  recourse  to  the  ancrificea  and  high  priests 
yearlyand  to  (heir  blood  and  oblations.  They  were  to  prny,  (which 
was  a  moral  duty.)  btil  it  must  be  with  incense,  and  in  suvh  a 
^tace ;  they  were  lo  be  thankful,  (another  moral  duly,)  but  it  must 
be  testified  by  the  offering  up  of  many  sacrifices  upon  the  altar, 
etc  ;  they  were  to  confess  tlieir  sins,  (a  moral,  duty  also,)  but  it 
must  be  over  the  head  of  the  scapegoat,  ele.  Thus  they  were  un- 
der the  Iftw,  bat  we  are  not ;  and  fu  it  is  usual  for  the  apostle 
tbm  to  speak  of  the  law  in  other  places  of  the  Scripture,  bo 
wirely  he  speaks  of  il  here  ;  for  hence  it  is  that,  in  the  beginning 
of  this  dispute,  (cap.  iii.  19,)  be  speaks  6f  the  moral  law  which 
wu  given  becaose  of  transgressions ;  and  yet,  in  the  close  of  it, 
{Gal>  iv.  3,)  he  seems  lo  speak  only  of  [he  ceremonial  law,  which 
he  calls  the  elements  of  the  world,  under  which  the  children 
vere  then  in  bondage,  as  under  tutors  and  governors ;  which 
implies  thus  much,  that  the  children  of  the  Old  Testament  wei-e 
indeed  under  the  moral  law,  but  yet  witlml  as  thus  accompanied 
with  ceremonial  rudiments  and  elements  fit  to  teach  children  in 
their  minority ;  but  now  in  this  elder  age  of  the  church,  although 
ire  are  under  the  moral  law  in  other  respects,  yet  we  are  not 
under  it  as  thus  aceoropanied. 

3.  In  renpect  of  the  mnnner  and  measure  of  dbpcnsation  of 
the  moral  law,  which  although  it  had  the  revelation  of  the  gospel 
eonjoin^d  with  it.  (for  Moses  writ  of  Christ,  John  v.  46,  and 
Abraham  had  the  gospel  preached  to  him,  Gial.  it.  8,  and  the  un- 
believing Jews  hail  the  gospel  preached,  Heb.  iv.  2,)  yet  the  law 
was  revealed  and  pressed  more  clearly  and  strongly,  with  more 
rigor  and  terror,  and  the  gospel  was  revealed  more  obscurely 
and  darkly  in  res[>ect  of  the  manner'of  external  diapensniion  of 
ihom  in  those  times ;  there  were  three  things  in  that  manner  of  dis- 
pvnualion,  from  which  (at  least  AC/>arfei>rtre(^^ft<)  we  are  now 
freed. 

1.  Then  there  was  much  law  urged,  esternally,  clearly,  and 
little  gospel  so  clearly  revealed ;  indeed  gospel  and  Christ  Jesus 
«ru  the  end  of  the  moral  law,  and  the  substance  of  all  the  shad- 
ows of  the  ceremooiul  law ;  but  the  external  face  of  these  things 
WM  MWTe  any  tiling  else  but  doing  and  law,  by  reason  of  which 
lber«  ia  a  vail  spread  over  the  hearts  of  the  Jews  in  reading  the 
Old  Tetlwnent  tinlo  this  day,  as  is  evident,  (2  Cor.  lit.  13 :)  lO 


i 


I 


106  rilK   JIOBALlTt    Of  TIIK   .SABBATH. 

that  till)  inside  or  end  of  ihe  moral  luw  being  gospel,  snd  ilie 
.autside  and  means  H;>[>ointe<l  lo  ihis  end  lieing  law,  lient^e  the 
gospel  wa-t  llicn  less  clearly,  anil  tlic  law  was  more  i^learly,  re- 
vealed in  liioxe  times  ;  lo  »ay  (Imt  Jesos  Cliriet  and  hia  beneliis, 
or  eternal  life,  were  then  dispensed  niidcr  a  covenant  of  works, 
or  tub  eoHditioae  perfeeta  obrdientiee.  (us  some  eminent  wortliies 
affirm,)  is  such  an  error  wliidi  wise  and  able  men  ini;>ht  eosilj' 
fall  into  by  tieeing  how  mueli  law  was  revealed  and  urged  in  ibose 
times  1  fur  ihougli  tlie  law,  simply  considered  in  itself,  contained 
the  matter  of  the  covenant  of  works,  yet  considered  relatively  in 
respect  of  the  people  of  God,  and  as  they  were  under  Abiiihem'a 
covenant  of  grace,  so  it  was  given  to  them  as  a  rule  of  perfect 
rigtileousoess,  by  both  which  they  might  the  better  see  their  own 
wealcuess  and  unrighteousness,  and  fly  to  Christ ;  and  therefore 
the  apostle  (Gal.  iii.  17)  calls  the  promise  which  was  made  to 
Ahraham  the  covenant,  and  gives  not  this  title  lo  the  law,  but 
calls  it  the  law  which  (he  saith)  could  not  disannul  the  covenant, 
conRrmed  in  Christ ;  and  although  it  be  propounded  to  ihem  in 
way  of  covenant,  (Ex.  xix.  5,)  yet  ihis  is  to  be  understood  (as 
some  lliink)  of  evangelical  keeping  covenant,  not  of  legal ;  or 
if  of  legal,  yet  then  it  is  not  propounded  simply,  as  a  covenant  of 
works,  to  convey  Christ  lo  ihem,  but  ex  hypothtti,  or  upon  sup- 
position, that  if  they  did  think  to  be  God's  people,  and  have  him 
10  be  their  God,  by  doing,  (as  Junius  observes  the  carnal  Jews  did 
think  and  liope  so  to  have  him,  and  as  that  young  man  thought. 
Matt.  xix.  17,  as  Chamier  observes,)  that  then  they  must  keep 
all  these  commandments  perfectly,  and  to  be  accursed  if  they 
£d  not  continue  therein.  1  dars  iiot  tlicrcfore  sny  tl>at  Christ 
and  eternal  lite  were  dispensed  in  a  covenant  of  works,  under 
which  covenant  the  Jews  were  shut  in  Old  Testament  times ; 
but  rather  this,  tliatlhe  law  was  more  strongly  pressed  as  a  yoke 
upon  llKir  shoulders,  and  that  this  law  which  contains  the  cov- 
enant of  works  was  more  plentifully  revealed  and  insisted  on, 
and  tl)e  gospel  more  sparitigly  and  daiitly ;  but  now  in  gospel 
times  the  daystar  is  risen,  (though  in  few  men's  hearts,)  yet  in 
the  doctrine  and  clear  revelation  of  it  llierein,  and  therefore  the 
gospel  is  called  the  "  mystery  hidden  from  ages  and  generations 
post,  but  DOW  is  made  manifest  to  his  saints,"  (Col.  i.  2G,)  wiiich 
ona  not  be  meant  as  if  they  had  no  knowledge  of  it,  for  Abra- 
ham saw  Christ's  day,  and  there  is  a  cloud  of  w.itneases  in  the 
Old  Testament  who  died  in  faith,  (Ilcb.  xi.,)  but  not  such  clear 
knowledge  of  it  as  now  :  they  were  therefore  then  under  the 
i,  (because  so  much  working  and  doing  was  urged 
and  chiedy  revealed,)  but  indeed  were  sous  and  heirs ;  but  we 


THE    SlOR*LITV    OF    THE    SAUBiTU.  107 

iioiv  we  iioi  so  under  it.  but  are  as  sons  having  the  Lord  JeauB 

i  our  Father's  face  in  liim  ckarlj  reveakd,  and  laitb  in  him 

chiefly  and  most  abundantly  urged  in  hia  blessed  gospel;  and 

'  13  the  apostle  lelte  ua  in  this  text,  (Gal.  iv.  1,  with  iv.  5,)  that 
the  huirs  of  the  promise  under  the  Old  Testament  were  as  ser- 
vants, but  by  Christ's  coming  we  are  now  us  sons ;  lootc  also,  as 
ihcy  are  said  to  be  under  the  law,  not  as  if  they  had  no  gospel 

ivcaled.  or  no  use  of  the  gospel,  but  only  because  the  gospel  was 
tnore  darkly  revealed,  and  the  law  more  plentifully  urged,  so  we 
kre  said  not  to  be  under  the  law,  not  as  if  there  was  no  Inw,  or  no 
Bse  o(  the  law  belonging  to  us,  but  because  now  the  gospel  is  more 
Hearly  revealed,  and  the  law  ttot  eslemalty  so  proposed  and  im- 
posed as  it  was  upon  them. 

2.  The  law  was  a  schoolmaster,  tuior,  and  goi^ernor,  to  lead 
lliem  unto  Christ  to  come ;  for  so  the  apostle  tells  us  in  this  place, 
(GaL  iii.  23.)  that  "before  fmlh  came,  we  were  shut  up  under 
the  Inw,  onto  the  faith  which  should  afterward  be  revealed." 
Thus  the  ceremonial  law  pointed  to  Christ  to  come,  the  moral 
Uw  discovered  man's  sin  and  misery,  and  need  of  Christ  who 
was  lo  come  ;  nay,  all  the  promises  were  made  with  reference  to 
Jesus  Christ  lo  come  ;  hut  now  "  the  fullness  of  time  being  come," 
lluu  the  Son  of  God  is  come,  now  "  we  are  no  longer  under  the 
kw"  after  this  manner;  neither  ceremonial  nor  moral  law  is  of 
any  use  lo  us  lo  lead  us  unto  Christ  to  come,  for  Christ  is  already 
come ;  and  hettre  it  is,  that  believers  now  are  said  to  be  rather 
under  the  gospel  than  under  the  law,  and  believers  under  the  Old 
Testament  to  be  nlher  under  the  law  than  under  the  gospel ; 
bMnu^e,  although  these  had  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  redemption, 
yet  ihey  were  not  actually  redeemed,  because  the  Redeemer  was 
■ot  yei  corae  into  the  flesh,  and  in  this  respect  they  were  under 
the  rij^r  of  the  law,  and  hence  it  was  fit  that  they  should  be 
handled  as  servants,  and  the  law  and  curse  thereof  principally 
rvvcKled ;  but  now  Christ  being  come,  nnd  having  actually  re- 

Idi-emcd  us.  having  been  (not  only  virtually,  but  actually)  made 
righteousness  and  a  ctiree  for  us,  now  ifacrefore  is  the  time  ibat 
v«  sbould  see  Christ  Jesus  with  open  face,  and  hear  principally 
ti>Rc«ming  iHilh  and  the  Father's  love  in  him  (  now  Christ  is 
ivvcalcd  chielly  (being  come)  the  end  of  the  law,  then  the  law 
waa  revealed  chietly  (Christ  being  not  yet  come)  a 
Ibis  end :  look  therefore,  as  the  promise  before  Christ,  of  which 
rbe  ai>OStIe  speaks.  (Gal.  iii.  17-22.)  was  fullilled  in  Christ  being 
come,  (as divines  spvak,)  rather  than  abolished,  and  yet  abolished 
aa  it  WM  a  promise  of  grace  to  come,  so  the  moral  Inw  is  rather 
ftiMlM  tluin  abolished  in  Christ  being  come;  and  yet  lu  it 


l>eing  ^ 

ished  M 

alher  H 

Udid  V 


I 


V)S 


TaE   UOBALITI    OK   TUb 


» 


lead  unU)  Christ  to  come,  it  is  abolished  to  ua  now  under  the 
gospel. 

3.  The  law  being  principally  revealed,  and  yet  so  revealed  ta 
to  lead  unto  Christ  Jesus  to  come,  lieiice  ariseUi  a  third  tiling  of 
the  law,  from  which  we  are  now  delivered,  viz.,  they  were  ibere- 
fcre  under  more  terror  and  fear  of  the  law  than  we  are  (on 
God's  part  revealing  the  gospel  more  clearly)  in  ihese  times ; 
and  therefore  Baith  the  aposlle,  (Gal.  iv.  4-6,)  "iliatwhen  the 
fullness  of  time  came,  Gn^d  sent  his  Son  to  redeem  us  from  under 
the  law,  (hat  we  might  receive  tlie  adoption  of  sons,  and  thereby 
the  spirit  of  song,  crying,  Abba,  Falher."  Could  not  they  who 
were  sons  under  the  law  call  God  Falher  ?  Tes,  verily,  doubtless 
thou  art  our  Father,  say  they,  (Is.  Ixiii.  17;)  but  tboy  having 
less  light,  they  had  more  fear  and  lees  of  the  spirit  of  adoption,  t 
fay  still,  (ex  parte  Dei  revelantU.)  than  we  l^ve  in  these  days. 
We  ore  not  therefore  so  under  the  law,  i.  e.,  the  fear  and  terror 
of  the  law,  as  they  were.  The  sum  of  all  this  is.  that  although 
we  are  not  so  under  the  law,  1,  so  accompanied,  and,  2,  so  dis- 
pensed, as  they  were  under  tlie  Old  Testament,  yet  this  hindeia 
not  but  that  we  are  under  the  directive  power  of  the  law  aa 
well  as  they. 

Tlietit  109.  The  aposlle  speaks  of  a  law  written  and  engraven 
on  stones,  and  therefore  of  the  moral  law,  which  is  now  abolished 
by  Christ  in  the  gospel.  (2  Cor.  iii.  6,  7,  11,  13.)  Is  the  moral 
law  therefore  abolished  as  a  rule  of  life  now  ?  No,  verily ;  but 
Ibe  meaning  of  this  place  is  as  the  former,  (Gal.  iii.  25,)  for  the 
ftpostlc,  speaking  of  tlte  moral  law  by  a  synecdoche,  comprehends 
the  ceremonial  law  also,  both  which  the  false  teachers  in  those 
titnea  urged  as  necessary  to  salvation  and  justiGcation  at  least 
together  with  Christ,  against  whom  the  apostle  here  disputes ; 
the  moral  law  therefore  is  abolished,  tirst,  as  thus  accompanied 
with  a  yoke  of  ceremonies  j  secondly,  as  it  was  formerly  dispensed, 
the  glorious  and  greater  light  of  the  gospel  now  obscuring  the 
lesser  light  under  the  law,  and  therefore  the  i^HMtle  (ver.  10) 
doth  not  say,  that  there  was  no  glory  shining  in  Uie  law,  but  it 
had  no  comparative  glory  in  this  respect,  by  reason  of  the  glory 
which  exccUeth  ;  and  lastly,  the  apostle  may  speak  of  the  moral 
law,  considered  aa  a  covenant  of  life  which  the  false  teachers 
urged,  in  which  respect  he  calls  it  the  ministry  of  death,  and  the 
letter  which  killelh,  and  the  ministers  (who  were  called  Naxarei 
Mid  Minei,  09  Bollinger  thinks)  the  ministers  of  the  letter,  which 
although  it  was  virtually  abolished  to  the  believing  Jews  before 
gospel  times,  (the  virtue  of  Christ's  death  extending  to  all  times,) 
jet  it  was  not  then  abolished  actually  until  Christ  came  in  the 


THB   UORALITT   OP   THE   3ABBATB.  109 

i  flesh,  aod  actually  undertook  to  fulftll  thU  covenant  for  ns  to  the 
aimoit  farthing  of  doing  and  suffering  which  is  exacted ;  and  now 
it  is  aboliaht^d  both  vinunlly  and  iiciually,  that  now  we  may  with 
open  face  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  end  of  the  law  for 
nghieousoesd  to  every  one  that  doth  believe. 

Tktii*  110.      The  gospel   under   which   believers  now  an 
,    Tcquires  DO  doing,  (say  some,)  for  doing  i»  proper  to  the  law; 
the  biw  promUelh  life,  and  requires  conditions ;  but  the  gospel 
'    (»ay  they)  promiseih  lo  work  the  condition,  but  requires  none, 
,    and  therefore  a  believer  is  now  wholly  free  from  all  law.     But 
,    the  gospel  and  law  are  taken  two  waya:  1.  Largely,  the  law  for 
the  whole  doctrine  contained  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  gos- 
pel for  the  whole  doctrine  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  in  the  New 
Testament;    3.  Strictly,  the  law  pro  lege  operian,  (as  Chamier 
distinguisbetk,)  and  the  gospel  pro  Ugtjidei,  i.  c.,  for  the  law  of 
fiuth.     The  law  of  works,  strictly  taken,  is  ibat  law  which  rereaC 
'    lli«  favor  of  God  and  eternal  life  upon  condition  of  doing  or  of 
perfect  obedience ;  the  law  of  faith,  strictly  taken,  is  that  doctrin* 
which   reveals  remission  of  sins,   reconciliation  with  God   by 
Christ's  nghteousness  only  apprehended  by  faith.    Now,  the  gos- 
pel in  thi«  latter  Mnse  excludes  all  works,  and  requires  no  doing 
:    in  point  of  Justification  and  remission  of  ains  before  God,  but  only 
believing ;  but  take  the  gospel  largely  for  the  whole  doctrine  of 
1    {rod's  lovv  and  free  grace,  and  so  the  gospel  requires  doing  j  for 
a«  il  is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace  to  justify  a  man  without  callmg 
tot  any  works  thereunto,  so  it  is  an  act  of  the  same  free  grace 
lo  require  works  of  a  peraon  justified,  and  that  such  poor  sinners 
•haiiU  Bland  bctore  the  Son  of  God  on  his  throne,  to  minister 
vnta  biro,  and  serve  him  in  righteousness  and  liulinegs  all  the 
day*  of  our  lives,  (Tit.  ii.  14;)  and  for  any  to  think  that  the 
gMpel  requirei*  no  conditions  is  a  sudden  dream  against  hun- 
I    dr«idA  of  scriptures,  which  contain  conditional,  yet  evangelical 
I  promises,  and  against  the  judgment  of  the  most  judicious  of  our 
I  divines,  who,  in  dispute  against  Popish  writers,  can  not  but  ac- 
[  IiiKtwIttdgt)  ihem  only  thus,  viz.,  conditions  and  prpmises  annexed 
I  lo  obedience  arc  one  thing,  (saiih  learned  Pemblc,)  and  conditions 
I  innexed  to  perfect  obedience  are  another ;  the  first  are  in  iha 
I  BMiirl,  the  other  not.     Works  are  necessary  to  salvation,  (sait^ 
[   Chnmiur,)  Hterisitatt  prateatia,  not  e^fficreiilia ;   and  hence  hgj 
I  Biakeis  two  sorts  of  conditions,  some  auttetdenU*,  wliich  work  or 
k  Rterit  salvation,  and  these  are  abandoned  in  the  gospel;  others 
I  (he  uuth)  are  comt^urnla.  which  follow  the  stote  of  a  man  jusli- 
I  fied,  atid  thnse  are  required  of  one  already  justified  in  the  gospel. 
^TlMiRi  are  indeed  no  con<litions  required  of  us  in  the  gospel,  but 
VOL.  lit.  10 


i 


no 


THE   MOKALIIT   OF   THE 


r  halh  n 


those  only  which  the  Lord  himself  bIiqII  o 
and  which  by  requiring  of  us  he  dolh  work :  will  it  therefore  fol- 
low, that  no  condiiion  is  required  in  u»,  but  because  every  con- 
dition is  promised  ?  No,  verily,  for  requiring  the  condition  is  tlie 
means  to  work  it,  (as  might  be  plentifully  demonstrated,)  and 
menos  and  ends  should  not  be  separated.  Faith  itself  is  no  an-  "^ 
tecedent  condition  to  o«r  justification  or  Eulvation,  take  antecedent,' 
in  the  usual  sense  of  some  divines,  for  affecting  or  meriting  con- 
dition, whicfi  Juniua  calls  etgerUiaiii  conditio :  but  take  ante- 
cedent for  a  means  or  instrument  of  justification,  and  receiving 
Christ's  righteousness,  in  this  sense  it  is  the  only  antecedent  con- 
dition which  the  gospel  requires  therein,  because  it  dolh  only 
atitecedere,  or  go  before  our  justification,  (at  least  in  oi-der  of 
nature,)  not  lo  merit  it,  but  to  receive  it,  not  to  make  it,  but  to 
make  it  our  own,  not  as  the  matter  of  our  righteousness,  or  any 
part  of  it,  but  as  the  only  means  of  apprehending  Christ's  right- 
eousness, which  is  the  only  cause  why  God  the  Father  juslifieth  -j^. 
and  therefore,  as  Christ's  righteousness  must  go  before,  as  the. 
matter  and  moving  cause  of  our  justiflcatiuu.  or  that  for  which 
we  are  justified,  so  faith  must  go  before  this  righteousness  as  an 
instrument  or  applying  cause  of  it,  by  which  we  are  justified,  that 
is,  by  means  of  which  we  apply  that  rigbieousness  which  makes 
us  just  It  is  true  God  justifies  the  ungodly ;  but  how  ?  not  im- 
mediately without  faith,  but  mediately  by  faith,  as  is  most  evident 
from  that  abused  text,  Rom.  iv.  5.  When  works  and  failh  arc 
ogiposed  by  the  aposlle  in  point  of  justification,  affirming  that  we 
are  justified  by  faith,  not  by  works,  he  doth  hereby  plainly  atfirm, 
and  give  that  to  faith  which  he  denies  to  works ;  look  therefore, 
as  he  denies  works  to  b^  anlecedent  conditions  of  our  justi  Heal  ion, 
be  atfirms  the  contrary  of  faith,  which  goes  before  our  justifica- 
tion, as  hath  been  ex|tlained;  and  therefore,  as  do  and  live  halli 
been  accounted  good  law,  or  the  covenant  of  works,  so  believe 
and  live  halh  been  in  former  times  accounted  good  gospel,  or  the 
of  grace,  until  now  of  late  this  wild  age  hath  found  out 
els  tliat  Paul  and  the  apostles  did  never  dream  of,^*^ 


work,  and  have 


n  may  be  set  to  do  the  si 
same  rule  given  them  to  act'by ;  but  the 
r  work,  and  the  stripes  and  punishmenia 
for  neglect  of  iheir  work,  may  be  various  and  divers ;  a  son 
may  be  bound  to  it,  because  he  is  a  son  and  beloved ;  a  servant 
may  he  bound  to  do  the  same  work,  because  he  is  hired  and 
shall ,  have  wages  ;  if  a  son  neglect  his  .work,  his  punishment  ia 
only  the  chastisement  of  a,  father  for  his  good ;  if  a  servant  be 
faulty,  he  is  turned  quite  out  of  doors.     So,  although  believers 


THK   MOnALITY    Of  THE   SARDATH.  Ill 

in  Ciiri-i,  and  lliose  tliat  are  out  of  Clirial,  have  divers  and 
various  motives  lo  tlie  obedience  ol'  the  law  of  God,  yet  ihese 
do  not  vary  llic  rule ;  the  liiw  of  God  is  iLe  rule  to  ihem  both, 
klihaiigli  ibcy  lliul  be  out  of  Christ  liave  nothing  but  fear  and 
faopv  of  n-ajrea  lo  urge  them,  and  those  that  are  in  Christ  should 
have  noihiu^  hut  the  love  of  a  Father,  and  the  heartblood 
nercy  of  a  lender  tSaviour  and  Redeemer  to  compel  them  :  the 
one  may  be  bound  to  do,  that  so  ihey  may  live,  the  other  may 
be  bound  to  do,  because  they  do  live ;  the  one  may  be  bound  lo 
do>  or  eUe  they  shall  be  jui!tly  plagued  ;  ibc  other  may  be  bound 
to  do  the  same,  or  else  they  shall  be  mercifully  corrected.  It  is 
therefore  a  mere  feeblcne^  to  think  (as  some  do)  tliat  the  law 

r  rule  is  changed  beeause  the  moiites  lo  the  obedience  of  it, 

nd  punishment  for  the  breach  of  it,  are  now  (unto  a  believer) 
changed  and  altered  ;  for  the  communduient  urged  from  Christ's 
love  may  bind  strongly,  yco,  most  sirougly,  to  do  the  some  thing 
which  the  name  commandment,  propounded  and  received  in  way 
of  hire,  may  bind  aAeo  unto. 

7%Mu  112.  Some  think  that  there  is  no  sin  but  unbelief, 
(which  is  a  sin  against  the  gospel  oidy,}  and  therefore,  there 
being  no  sin  against  any  law,  (Christ  having  by  his  death  abolished 
■11  them,)  the  hiw  cannot  be  a  rule  to  them.  An  adulterous  and ' 
Ml  eril  generation  made  drunk  with  a  cup  of  tlte  wine  of  thi? 
wrath  of  God.  and  slrong  delusion,  do  thus  argue.  Are  drunk- 
eoness,  wboroiluiii,  lying,  cheating,  witchcrati,  oppression,  thcfi, 
buggery,  no  sins,  and  consequently  not  to  be  repented  of,  nor 
wUchcd  aguiiisl.  but  only  unbelief?  Is  there  no  day  of  judg- 
ment, wherein  the  Lord  will  judge  men,  not  only  for  unbeliel',  but 
the  secrets  of  all  hearts,  and  whatever  haib  been  done  in  the 
bMy,  whether  good  or  evil,  according  to  Paul's  gospel?  (Rom. 
it.  16.  2  Cor.  V.  10.)  Uuw  comes  the  wrath  of  God  to  be  re- 
vealed from  lieaven.  not  only  against  unbelief,  bat  against  all 
anrigbwoiuness  and  nngodhness  of  man  ?  ( Rom.  L  18.)  If  there 
was  DO  sin  but  unbelief,  how  can  all  flesh,  Jews  and  Gentiks, 
U»xime  guilty  before  God,  that  so  they  may  believe  in  the  gos- 
nel,  (»»  it  IS  Kum.  iii.  21-24.)  if  they  are  all  guiltless  until  unbe- 
lief cumea  in  ?  There  is  no  sin  inde«d  which  chall  condemn  a 
Bwn  in  ca*e  he  shall  believe ;  bnt  will  it  follow  from  hence  that 
there  is  no  sin  in  a  man  hut  only  unbelief?     A  sick  man  shall 

>t  die  in  case  he  receive  the  physic  which  will  recover  him ; 

R  doth  it  follow  from  hence  that  there  is  no  sickness  in  him,  or 
os»  which  is  able  to  kill  liira,  but  only  his  willful  re- 
jFlfa*  physic?     Surely  his  refusing  of  the  physic  is  not  the 
(  Jus  siektuas  which  was  before,  not  the  natural,  (for  that 


i 


his  sickness  \i.)  but  only  the  moral  cause  of  hU  death.  Sin  is 
before  unbelief  comes;  a  sick  sinner  before  a  heating  Saviour 
can  be  rej<!cleU ;  sin  kilb  the  soul,  as  it  were,  naturally,  unbelief 
morally ;  no  sin  shall  kill  or  condemn  ua  if  ve  believe ;  but  dolli 
it  follow  from  beoce  that  there  is  no  stn  before  or  afler  faith, 
because  there  is  no  condemning  sin  unless  we  fall  by  unbelief? 
No  such  matter;  and  yet  such  is  ibo  madness  of  some  projjbets 
in  these  times,  who,  to  lUiandon  not  only  the  directive  use  of  tbs 
Ittw,  but  also  all  preparing  and  humbliug  work  of  the  law,  am) 
to  make  men's  sinning  the  first  foundation  and  ground  of  their 
believing,  do  therefore  either  abolish  alt  the  being  of  any  sin 
beside  unbelief,  or  the  condemned  estate  of  a  man  for  tiin,  yea, 
for  any  sin,  until  he  refuse  Christ  by  unbelief;  for  publishing 
which  pernicious  doctrines  it  had  been  well  for  them  if  they  had 
never  been  born. 

7'Aem'g  113.  One  would  wonder  how  any  Christian  should 
fall  into  this  pit  of  perdition,  lo  deny  the  directive  use  of  ibe 
law  to  one  in  Christ,  if  either  they  read  Ps.  cczix.  with  any 
favor,  or  the  epiatles  of  John  and  James  with  any  faith ;  in  which 
the  law  is  highly  commended,  and  obedience  thereto  urged  as 
the  happiness  and  chief  evidence  of  the  happiness  of  nian ;  but 
that  certainly  the  root  of  ihia  accursed  doctrine  is  either  a  loose 
heart  which  is  grown  blind  and  bold,  and  secretly  glad  of  a  lib- 
erty, not  so  much  from  the  law  of  sin  as  from  the  law  of  God, 
or  if  the  heart  be  sincere  in  the  main,  yet  it  slights  the  Holy 
Scriptures  at  present,  and  makes  little  conscience  of  judging  in  the 
matters  of  God  according  unto  them;  for  if  it  did  it  could  hardly 
fall  into  this  dirty  ditch,  out  of  which  the  good  Lord  deliver,  and 
out  of  which  I  am  persuaded  he  will  deliver  in  time  all  those 
that  are  bis  own  :  ibr  I  much  question  the  salvation  of  that  man 
who  lives  and  dies  with  this  opinion ;  and  as  every  error  is 
fi  uitful,  so  this  is  in  special ;  for  from  this  darkening  the  direc- 
tive use  of  the  moral  law  arise  (amidst  many  others)  these  ensu- 
ing evils,  which  are  almost,  if  not  altogether,  deadly  to  the  soula 
of  men ;  they  are  principally  these  three. 

I  7K«m  114.  The  first  is  a  shameful  neglect  (in  some  affect- 
ing foolishly  the  name  of  New  Testament  ministers)  of  a  wise 
and  powerful  preaching  of  the  law,  lo  make  way,  by  the  humbling 
work  of  it,  for  the  glorious  gospel,  and  the  affectionate  enter- 
tainment thereof;  for  through  the  righteous  judgment  of  God, 
when  men  once  begin  lo  abandon  this  use  of  the  law  as  a  rule, 
they  abolish  mucli  more  readily  this  use  of  the  law  lo  prepare! 
men  thereby  tor  the  receiving  of  ChrisL  I  know  there  are  some' 
who  acknowledge  this  use  of  the  law  to  be  our  rule,  but  not  to 


■mE  MOHALiTr  OF  THE  sabhatii.  113 


;  bat  huw  loog  they  may  be  ortliorlox  ill  the  one,  who 
[  mn  heleroUuK  in  the  oilier,  the  Lord  only  knows,  for  I  find 
[  that  the  I'liief  nrgumeota  agninst  the  one  do  strike  atrongly 
L  against  the  olher  aliw.  It  is  an  easy  th'iug  lo  cost  blocks  before) 
I  ibe  blind,  and  to  out  mists  before  the  fare  of  the  cle&reat  truth, 
I  anil  to  make  many  specious  shows  of  New  Testament  ministry, 
I  trw  gracv  and  eovenant,  against  this  supposed  legal  way  and  pre- 

Cngworki  but  assuredly  they  that  have  found  and  felt  the 
:  and  comfort  of  this  humbling  way  (for  which  1  doubt  not 
I  bnt  that  thousands  and  thousands  are  blessing  God  in  heaven 
I  -that  ever  ihi'y  heard  of  it)  do  <.-ertainly  and  assuredly  know  that 
e  men  (at  least,  doclrines  in  this  point)  are  not  of  God  —  the 
word  in  iliese  men's  mouihs  being  flat  uonlrary  to  [he  mereiful 
I  and  the  forever  lo  Iw    adored  work  -of  God    in  their   hearts. 


4 


f  evn)  when  lie  o 

i,(Johiixvi.  a.  10.)  which  we  know  is  chiefly  by  the  law.  (Rom. 
I 'Mi.  20;)  and  shall  the  ministers  (not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit) 
I  mfusc  lo  begin  here,  especially  in  these  times  of  wantonness, 
I  otmtenlion,  confusion,  famine,  sword,  and  blood,  wherein  every 
I  thing  almost  rries  aloud  for  sackcloth,  mid  therefore  not  for 
I  litTany  and  silken  sermons?  As  if  this  corrupt  and  putrefying; 
I  age  Mood  only  in  need  of  sugar  to  preserve  and  keep  them  swei.'i 
w  from  wnnjling.  A^  if  sublime  notions  about  Christ  and  frei> 
L  grarr,  covenant  of  grace,  love  of  the  Father,  the  kingdom  within. 
f  and  Christian  i-xcellcnces  and  privileges,  were  the  only  things  • 
I  this  age  stood  iu  need  of,  and  not  in  any  need  of  searcbings  with 
BBfldlcs.  terrors,  shakings,  sense  of  sin,  or  forewammgs  of  wrath 
to  como. )  As  if  this  old  world  did  need  no  Noah  to  foretell  them 
I  of  flooiU  of  fire  and  wraih  to  come.  Or,  as  if  the  men  of  Sodom 
1  prinii's  of  Gomorrah  should  do  well  to  moek  at  Lot  for 
IllMlding  liiin  to  liusten  out  of  tlie  uity,  because  God  would  destroy 
rb.  Ah  If  ihe  spirit  of  Paul  in  these  times  should  not  know  the 
1  terror  of  tlie  Lord,  and  therefore  persuade  men,  (2  Cor.  v.  10, 
II,)  but  only  the  love  and  free  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
I  tbcrKfure  lo  exhort  men,  nay,  rather,  therefore,  to  relate  to  men 
I  Moru-'S  and  notions  alwul  free  grace,  general  redemption,  the  my«- 
|>tery  of  the  Father's  love,  and  the  Christ  in  yon  and  in  the  spirit 
I  i^*"  *''^  person  of  Christ,  or  Christ  in  the  ficsh)  the  hope  of  glory. 
I  What  will  ihc  Lord  Jesus  one  day  say  to  these  sleepy  watchmen, 
never  tell  the  srcure  world  of  their  enemies  at  the  door? 
d  diven  colors  and  )irc(i>nces  for  this  course  of  daubing. 
Some  say  this  savors  of  an  Old  Testament  spirit,  which 
I  jru  wont  |o  wound,  and  then  lo  heal ;  to  humble,  and  Ihon  to  - 
■  10» 


4 


I 


114  THE   UOBALITT   OP   THE    SADDATH. 

raise ;  to  preach  law,  and  then  gospel ;  but  now  we  are  (o 
be  mini^lers  of  the  New  Testament,  and  let  no  law  be  heard 
of.  I  conress,  ihoae  that  preach  the  law  as  Ihe  means  of  our 
justiBofltion,  and  aa  the  matter  of  our  righieouaness,  wiihout 
Christ,  or  together  with  Christ,  as  the  false  teachers  did,  (2  Cur. 
iii.  6.)  may  well  be  called  (as  Paul  calls  them)  ministers  of  thet 
letter,  not  of  the  spirit,  of  the  Old  Tesiameni,  not  of  the  New ; 
but  to  preach  Christ  plainly  and.  with  open  face  the  end  of  the 
Inw,  and  to  preach  the  law  as  the  means  to  prepare  for,  and 
advance,  Christ  in  our  hearis,  can  never  be  proved  1o  be  the 
Old  Testament  ministry,  or  to  put  a  vail  upon  men's  hearts  that 
they  can  not  see  the  end  of  the  law,  (as  the  Old  Testament  vail 
did,  2  Cor.  iii.  14,)  but  it  is  to  take  away  the  vail  of  all  conceit 
of  man's  own  strength  and  righteousness,  by  seeing  his  curse, 
that  so  he  may  fly  to  the  end  thereof,  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  em- 
brace him  for  righteousness.  For  the  ajiostle  doth  not  call  theni 
ministers  of  ihe  letter  and  of  the  Old  Testament  because  they 
did  preach  the  law  to  the  humble  and  lead  unto  Christ,  but  be- 
cause they  preached  the  law  for  righteousnesa  without  Christ, 
whom  he  ealb  the  spiril,  (ver.  17,)  and  therefore  calls  them  the 
ministers  of  the  letter,  and  their  ministry  of  death  and  condem- 
nation: there  is  something  in  the  law  which  U  of  perpetual  use, ' 
and  something  which  is  but  for  a  lime  —  the  vit  coactiva  lepit,  (as 
■ome  call  it,)  i.  e.,  the  force  of  the  law  to  condemn  and  curse, 
to  hold  a  man  under  the  curse,  and  to  hold  a  man  under  the 
power  of  sin,  which  the  apostle  calls  the  strength  of  the  law, 
(I  Cor-  XV.  56.)  is  but  for  a  time,  and  is  hut  accidental  to  the 
law,  and  may  be  separated  from  it,  and  is  separated  indeed  from 
it  as  soon  as  ever  the  soul  is  in  Christ,  (Rom.  viii.  1 ;)  he  is  then 
free  from  the  obligation  of  it  to  perform  personol  and  perfect 
obedience  to  it,  that  so  he  may  he  just ;  idso  from  the  maledic- 
tion and  curse  of  it,  if  be  be  not  thus  just.  But  that  which  is  I 
of  perpetual  use  in  it,  is  not  only  the  directive  power  of  it,  but 
this  preparing  and  humbling  virtue  of  it ;  tor  if  all  men  by  na- 
ture, Jews  and  Gentiles,  are  apt  to  be  puffed  up  with  their  own 
righteousness,  and  to  ble^  themselves  in  their  own  righteousness, 
and  so  to  feel  no  such  need  of  Christ,  then  this  humbling  work 
of  the  law  to  slay  men  of  all  their  fond  conceits  and  foolish  con- 
fidence in  their  own  righteousness,  and  to  make  men  feel  the 
horrible  nature  of  sin,  by  revealing  the  curse  and  malediction 
due  to  it,  is  of  moral  and  perpetual  use.  And  hence  it  is,  that 
though  the  gospel,  strictly  taken,  (as  is  intimated  Thesis  llfl,) 
hath  no  terror  properly  in  it,  because  thus  it  reveals  nothing  but 
recoDciliatiou  through  Christ's  righteousness  applied  by  faith, 


THE    MOIIALITT   OF  THK    SABBATH.  115 

yet  the  gospel  larirely  taken,  for  tliat  doctrine  whirh  reveals  ifaa 
glad  tidings  of  Christ  already  come,  so  ihere  U  terror  in  it,  be- 
cnuse  in  this  respect  the  gospel  makes  use  of  the  law,  and  ( 
firms  what  is  raorni  and  perpetual  therein. 

The  sin  and  terror  which  the  gospel  (largely  taken)  makes 
u^e  of  out  of  the  law  arc  but  Bubservient  to  the  gospel  slrieily 
taken,  or  for  that  which  is  principally  or  more  properly  gospel,  ' 
for  thereby  the  righteousness  and  free  grace  and  lave  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  preciousness  and  greatness  of  both,  are  the  more 
clearly  illustrated.  The  law  of  itself  wounds  and  kills,  and 
rather  drives  from  Christ  than  unto  Cbriot;  but  in  the  bund  of  r 
the  gospel,  or  as  Cbri-«t  handles  it,  so  it  drives  tlie  soul  unto/ 
Christ,  and  (as  hath  been  shown)  is  the  means  to  that  end  ;  and 
it  is  a  most  fidse  and  nauseous  doctrine  to  alHrm  that  love  only 
draws  the  soul  to  Christ,  unless  it  be  unilerslood  with  this  cau- 
tion and  notion,  viz.,  love  ns  revealed  to  a  sinner,  and  condemned 
for  sin  ;  which  sin  and  condemnation  as  the  law  makes  known, 
to  the  gospel  makes  use  of  to  draw  unto  Christ.  If,  indeed, 
the  go»pel  did  wineTare  ut  caintraret,  i.  e.,  nound  that  it  may 
wound  and  terrify  only,  (which  the  law  doth,)  tlien  it  (sjiith  Clia- 
mier)  was  all  one  with  law,  (which  Bellarmin  pleads  for;)  but 
when  it  wounds  that  it  may  heal,  this  U  not  contrary,  but  agree- 
able, to  the  oilii^e  of  a  good  physician,  whose  chief  work  is  to  heati  , 
and  may  well  suit  with  the  healing  ministry  of  the  Lord  Je^ua; 
and  hence  we  see,  thai  although  Christ  was  sent  to  preach  the 
gospel,  yet  he  ciune  to  confirm  the  law  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel,  and  therefore  shows  the  spiritual  sins  against  the  law 
more  clearly,  and  the  heavy  plagues  for  the  breach  of  it  more 
fully,  than  the  scribes  and  Pharliiees.  He  that  is  angry  with  hia 
brother  is  a  murderer,  and  he  that  calls  him  fool  is  in  danger 
of  hell  fire.  (Matt.  v.  22.) 

Peier  was  no  minister  of  the  Old  Testament  because  he  first 
«nvinced  and  pritiked  the  Jews  to  the  heart  for  their  murder  of 
Christ  Jesus.  Paul  was  no  such  minister  neither,  (whenos  he 
would  evince  our  justtficniion  by  Christ's  righteousness  only,)  in 
tJint  he  begins  and  spends  so  much  time  in  proving  Gentiles  antl 
a  lie  under  sin  and  wrath,  notwithstanding  all  the  excuses 
of  the  one  and  privileges  of  the  other,  as  appears  in  his  three 
first  chapters  to  the  Romans ;  but  herein  they  were  gospel  prcouh-- 
en.  Nor  can  it  with  any  color  of  reason  be  thought  that  the 
prophet!  in  the  Old  Testament  were  herein  ministers  of  t)ie 
,  when  they  did  first  wound,  and  then  heal ;  lir»t  humble 
by  the  law,  and  then  i^vive  by  the  gospel.  M.  Saltmarsh  hath 
b«eii  ao  blinded  with  ihu  notion  of  the  Old  Testament  ministry, 


I 


I 


lie  THB   JIORALITV   OF  THE   S\ltniTIt. 

tbnt  >0  nvike  tliia  dm  of  the  law-  in  preaching  the  gospel,  or  (o 
hold  foNh  the  promises  of  gr.iue  lo  them  thai  are  qiialilitt]  with 
the  grace,  of  thu  promise,  {us  tlie  Old  Te^>lumpnt  pruphcU  did,)  is 
lo  give  (us  he  thinks)  ihe  wine  of  llie  gosjiei  burning  hot.  «s  ihe 
cmelous  genlleman  did  lo  his  gliosis :  mid  ai)other  (n'ltom  I  sjiare 
to  name)  professeih  that  the  Old  Testament  (I)ecau6e  it  urgelh 
tlie  law  lo  humble)  contaiaetli  little  good  news,  but  much  bad 
news ;  but  now,  when  Cliriet  saith,  "  Go,  preaeli  the  goapel," 
thereby  he  would  have  them  (lie  saiih)  miiiiBiere  of  the  New 
Tesiameot  to  preneh  glad  tidings,  (nothing  but  gospel,)  but  no  bad 
tidings,  (not  a  jot  of  the  law,}  until  mt-o  po!>ilively  reject  the  glad 
tidings  of  Ihe  gospel.  If  iheae  men  speak  true,  then  neither 
Peier  in  his  preaching,  nor  I'nul  in  his  writings,  nor  Chriet  him- 
self in  his  ministry,  were  mimsters  of  the  New  Tealament,  but 
did  overheat  their  wine,  and  preach  much  bad  tidings  to  the  peo- 
ple of  tiud.  Verily,  if  this  stuff  be  not  repented  of,  the  Lord 
bath  a  time  to  visit  for  these  inventions. 

2.  Some  object,  (Gal.  iii.  24,  2.^.)  that  the  children  of  the  Old 
Testament  were  under  the  law,  as  their  pedagogue  Id  lead  them 
to  Christ;  but  now  (the  apostle  saith)  we  are  no  longer  under  this 
sel  100 1  master,  who  are  sons  of  God  in  the  New  Testament.  Be 
it  so,  that  the  sons  of  God  under  the  New  Testament  are  past 
the  lerroring  of  ibis  schoolmaster,  is  it  not  ilicn^fore  ibe  work  of 
the  New  Tesiaraeni  ministry  to  preach  the  law  unlo  servants  and 
elaves  lo  sin  and  Satan  in  New  Testnmeni  times?  No,  (saith  the 
same  author,)  for  ihia  is  to  preach  bad  neus ;  this  is  no  gooil 
news  to  i^ay.  Thou  art  condeniTic<l  for  the.<e  things ;  for  the  gospi;! 
saith  thus.  Tliou  pour  drunkard,  thou  proud  wonuui,  here  is  a 
gracious  God  that  hath  loved  thee,  and  sent  Christ  lo  die  for 
thee,  and  ministers  lo  nmke  it  known  to  thee,  and  here  is  ever- 
lasting salvation  by  him  only,  beciiu^  ihou  ai-t  a  sinner;  thou 
art  now  free  Irom  damnation :  fear  nut  that,  Christ  bath  loved 
thee,  therefore  obey  him  ;  if  not,  thou-shalt  not  be  damned,  ibat 
is  done  away  already,  etc.  1  would  know  whether  a  proud  wo- 
man, or  a  poor  drunkard,  a  villain,  who  never  jet  believed,  are 
in  a  stale  of  eondemnation,  ay  or  no?  I  have  read  indeed  timt 
"  there  is  no  condemnation  lo  them  ttiat  are  in  Christ,"  (Hum.  viii. 
1 .)  but  never  of  any  sui-h  fi-eedom  to  them  that  are  out  of  Christ, 
iinlc^  it  was  only  in  desiinulion  and  merit;  and  I  hare  read 
that  we  arc  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  while  dead  in  sin; 
(Kph.  ii.  l-S:)  hut  never  of  this,  vis.,  that  we  are  in  favor 
while  we  be  in  our  sin,  much  less  that  we  arc  lu  believe  this 
It',  therefore,  such  persona  be  iu  a  stale 
ind  condemnMion,  ia  not  tbis  like  the  old 


THE   MORALITV   OF  THE   SABBATH.  117 

fiil*c  prophets,  crying  peace,  peaiw,  and  snlTalion,  where  ihere  is 
no  pence  ?  "  There  is  no  peace  to  ihe  vrickeil,  saiih  mj  (lod."  (Isi 
xlviil.  utu  :  Kii.  nil.)  This  is  truth  before  tbcy  reject  the  gos- 
pel, is  it  not  ?  This  ilie  law  saith  (say  some)  true,  but  is  noi 
tills  confirmed  by  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  also  ?  (John  iii.  ult.) 
He  that  believes  not,  the  wrath  of  God  abides  upon  him,  frti 
in  a6iu»-  it  was  upon  him  before  he  did  believe ;  and  when  he 
believes  not,  it  abides  where  it  did.  Must  the  ministers  of  the 
New  Teat&menl,  therefore,  prench  lies  and  talshoods,  and  tell 
proud  women,  and  poor  drunkards,  and  villains,  before  they  re- 
fuse the  gospel  by  unbelief,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  loves  them, 
*and  that  they  need  not  fear  condemnation,  when  the  Scripture 
hath  shut  up  all  men  under  it,  that  the  promise  by  faith  might  be 
given  to  those  that  believe,  and  them  only  ?  What  ia  this  gos- 
pel ministry  but  to  tell  men  they  are  whole,  and  not  sick  to 
death,  but  healed  before  they  come  to  the  Physician,  the  Lord 
Jesus  ?  Surely  that  is  gospel  ministry  which  advanceih  Christ 
not  only  in  word  but  in  power  in  the  hearts  of  poor  sinners  ;  but 
doth  this  ministry  advance  the  physician's  custom  and  honor, 
vhicb  where  it  comes  must  first  tell  all  the  crew  of  wretched  drunk- 
ards, proud  persons,  and  villains,  that  they  arc  already  well  and 
whole,  loved  and  piu'doned,  blessed  and  saved,  before  ever  they 
come  to  Ihe  Lord  Jesus  ?  Suppose  therefore  (as  some  may  say) 
tbot  servants  and  slaves  to  sin  may  have  the  law  preached  to 
them,  yet  the  sons  and  children  of  Giod  have  no  use  of  it  in  that 
respect  now  ;  it  is  true,  I  grant,  not  as  the  servants  have  under  the 
New  Testament,  nor  yet  as  the  sons  of  God  had  under  the  Old  ; 
for  the  children  of  God  under  the  Old  Testament  had  need  of  ibis 
achoolraasler  to  lead  them  to  Christ  to  come,  and  ad  Chrittum 
^fpieum,  i.  e.,  to  Christ  typed  out  in  sacrifices  and  oblatious,  high 
priest  and  altar,  and  so  it  led  them  to  Christ  afar  olf,  and  as  it 
were  a  great  way  about ;  but  it  doth  not  follow  that  there  is 
no  use  of  the  law  therefore  to  be  a  schoolmaster  still  to  lead  unto 
Christ  immediately  and  already  come  ;  those  that  are  servants 
to  tin  under  the  New  Testament  have  need  of  the  law  to  dhow 
them  the  condemnation  and  curse  under  which  they  lie  by  na- 
ture and  are  now  actually  under;  but  the  sons  of  God  (for  whom 
Christ  is  made  a  curse)  are  not  thus  under  it,  and  therefore  have 
Dot  this  use  of  it,  but  only  to  show  that  curse  and  condemnation 
which  they  do  of  themselves  deserve;  and  therefore  the  holy 
■poatle,  when  be  was  in  Christ,  and  did  live  unto  God,  he 
^owB  us  how  he  did  live  unto  God,  viz.,  by  dying  to  the  luw, 
and  how  he  did  die  tu  the  law,  and  that  was  by  the  law,  i.  c.,  as 
it  did  show  him  his  condemnation ;  he  did  live  to  God  in  his 


I 


118  THE    SIORALITV    OF    THE  -SABBATn. 

justitlcAtion  ;  as  it  did  show  liim  liissin,  nm]  wbdIs,  and  weakness, 
it  mndfi  Lim  die  unlo  it,  and  espeut  uo  lilb  from  it,  and  eo  live 
imlo  God  in  his  BanctiKcalion ;  for  so  ihe  words  are,  "  I  throueh 
thn  Inw  am  dfad  lo  the  law,  thai  !  mny  live  unlo  God,"  (Gal. 
ii.  19  ;)  thn  ifAue  thererore  is  this,  that  if  ihe  doctrine  be  t&kua 
strictly  pro  legejidei,  (as  Chamier  calls  il,)  or  ihat  doctrine  which 
ehows  the  yay  of  man's  righteousness  and  juslifleBtiun  only, 
there  iiidt^d  all  the  works  of  tlie  law,  nil  lerrara  and  threal- 
nings,  are  to  be  excluded,  and  nothing  else  bnt  peace,  pardon, 
pTBCv,  favor,  eternal  reronciliation  to  be  believed  and  received  ; 
and  therefore  il  is  no  New  Testament  ministry  lo  urge  the  law, 
or  to  thnnder  out  any  terror  here,  for  in  this  sense  it  is  true 
(which  is  commonly  received)  that  in  ihe  law  there  are  terrors, 
but  in  the  gospel  none;  buf  if  ihe  gospel  be  taken  largely  for 
all  that  doctrine  which  brings  glad  tidings  of  Christ  already 
come,  and  shows  the  love  of  God  in  the  largest  extent  of  it,  and 
the  illustrations  and  confirmationH  of  it  from  the  law,  then  such 
servants  of  Jesus  Christ  who  hold  forth  the  law  to  make  way  for 
grace,  and  lo  illustrate  Christ's  love,  must  either  be  accounted 
New  Testament  ministers,  or  else  (as  hath  been  shown)  Christ 
1^  Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  none. 

^~  Thesii  1 15.  The  second  is  a  professed  neglect,  and  casting 
'  olf  tiiQ  work  of  repentance  and  mourning  for  sin,  nay,  of  asking 
pardon  of  sin  ;  for,  if  Ihe  law  be  no  rule  to  show  man  his  duty,  why 
sliould  any  man  then  trouble  himself  with  sorrow  for  any  sin? 
For  if  il  Ije  no  rule  to  him,  how  should  any  tiling  he  ain  to  him  F 
k  and  if  so,  why  then  should  any  ask  pardon  of  it,  or  mourn 
I  jilpder  it  ?  Why  should  not  a  man  rather  harden  his  heart  like  an 
fldamam,  and  make  his  forehead  brass  and  iron,  even  unlo  the 
death,  against  the  feeling  of  any  sin  ?  Uul  what  doctrine  is  more 
cross  lo  tlie  s^iirit  of  grace  in  gospel  times  than  thin?  which  is  a 
spirit  of  mourning;  (2ach.  xii.  10,  11  ;)  what  doctrine  more 
cross  to  the  command  of  Christ  from  heaven  than  this  ?  who 
writes  from  heaven  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  lo  remember 
frora  whence  she  is  fallen,  and  repent ;  (Rev.  ii.  5  ;)  wliai  doc- 
trine more  cross  to  ihe  example  of  holy  men  than  this:  ?  who  after 
they  were  converted  then  repented  and  lamented  most  of  all; 
(Jer.  xxxi.  18,  1!*;  2  Cor.  vii.  9-11  ;)  what  doctrine  more 
cross  to  the  salvation  of  souls,  the  mercy  of  God,  and  forgiveness 
of  sin  ?  lor  so  the  promise  mna,  "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  ia 
faithful  and  just  to  tbi^ive  us  our  sins."  (1  John  i.  9.)  What  doc- 
trine so  cross  to  the  spirit  of  Ihe  love  of  Christ  shed  abroad  in  the 
heart,  ihat  when  a  man's  sins  are  greatest,  (which  is  after  conver- 
beCHUse  now  against  more  love  and  more  nearness  lo  Jesui 


r 

^H  muuemiing? 
^H  ia  sweet  and  g 
^B  ing  great  who 
^^m  tame  subject, 
^V   cation,  and  ihi 


IVJ 


I  ghouli]  l>e  kost  monkish  and 
I  lonlhsoiue,  but  godly  sorrow 


believer's  soi 
muuemiing?      Sorrow  indeed 

fa  sweet  and  glorious  ;  doubtless  tbme  ineu'ii  bliodneiis  b  exceed- 
b^  great  who  know  not  bow  to  reconcile  joy  and  sorrow  in  the 
■ame  subject,  who  ean  not  with  one  eye  bt^liold  llieir  free  justiH- 
cation,  and  therein  diiil;  rejoice,  nnd  the  weakness  and  imper- 
fection   of  ibeir  justificiilion   with    another  eye,   and  for  that 

Tlietit  116.     Tbe  third  thinj;  ift,  a  denying  sun ctiticntiot 

honor  of  »  fuiihful  and  true  witness,  or  clear  evidence  of  ou^l 

f    ju»lilicalion  ;/for  if  a  believer  be  not  bound  to  look  unto  the  law  | 

I  lu  hie  rule,  whj  shootd  he  then  have  any  eye  to  bin  sanctilicalia 

I   which  is  nothing  else  but  our  habitual  conformity  to  tlie  law,  as 

f    inherent  corruption  is  nothing  else  but  babilual  disiigrecment  j 

with  it ;  although  sanctificiitiun  be  no  part  of  our  rigbteousneuT 

before  God,  and  in  this  «ensc  U  no  evidence  of  our  justification,  [ 

yet  there  is  scarce  any  clearer  trutli  in  all  the  Scripture  than  J 

litis,  viz.,  that  it  is  evidence  that  a  man  is  in  a  juBtified  estate^ 

L  Jiodyet  this  leaven,  which  denies  the  law  to  be  a  Christian's  rule 

I  sf  life,  hath  soured  some  men's  spirits  against  this  way  of  evi- 

\  duDcing.     It  is  a  doublfid  evidence,  («ailh  Doctor  Crisp,)  an  ar- 

■  gument.  not  an  evidence  ;  it  is  a  carnal  and  an  inferior  evidence, 
I  Ihc  litst  and  the  least,  not  the  first  evidence;  it  is  an  evidence,  if 
\,  JustiKcfttion  be  first  evident,  (say  Den  and  Saltmiirsli,)  some  men 
I  may  be  led  to  these  ojiinions  from  otiier  principles  tlian  a  plain 
I  denial  of  the  directive  0£<i  of  the  law  ;  hot  this  I  feur  lies  undcr- 
w  »ost:  however,  let  these  two  things  be  examined  :  — 

I        K  Wliether  sancliacalion  be  a  doubtful  evidence. 

I        2.  Whether  it  be  a  carnal,  inferior,  and  may  not  be  n  firat 

I   evidence. 

I       llitma  117.     If  to  be  under  the  power  and  dominion  of  sin 

I  And  nriginul  corruption  be  u  sure  and  i-erluin  evidence  of  actual 

I  eondemnaiion,  so  thai  he  that  suiili  he  knows  Chriet  and  liuth  fel- 

I  lowship  with  him,  and  yi'I  walks  in  darkness,  and  keepn  not  bis 

I  eommnndments,  is  a  linr,  (1  John  i.  C;  ii.    4.)    why  may  not 

I  Mnclincalioti  then  (whereby  we  are  ^et  free  from  the  power  of 

L  iin)  Iw  a  »ure  and  certain  evidence  of  our  actual  justification  'i 

■  For  hereby  "  we  knuw  that  we  know  him,  if  we  keep  his 
K'DOminaudiDenls,"  (1  John  ii.  3;)  whereby  it  is  manifei;!  ikat 
K'lbe  aiMSlle  is  not  of  llieir  minds  who  think  the  negative  (o 
P  fcii  true,  vix.,  that  ihcy  that  keep  not  Christ's  commaudmcnls  ai-e 
t  In  a  ■late  of  perdition  ;  but  they  will  not  make  llu:  ullirmalive  true, 
L  la.,  that  they  that  keep  Ids  i^jjuraandments  may  tliereby  know 
BdttU  they  are  in  a  slate  of  talvatiou;  if  Jesus  Christ  be  wnt  "to 


A 

A 


t2(V 


THE   SIOUALITV   I 


I 


bless  his  people  in  turning  them  from  theii-  iniqaitieB,"  (Acta 
iii.  ult.,)  iben  they  thai  know  they  are  turned  from  their  iniqui- 
ties by  liim  may  know  certainly  that  they  are  blessed  in  him  ; 
and  it  they  be  not  thus  turned,  they  may  know  certainly  that 
they  arc  yet  accursed.  If  godltne^  hath  the  promises  of  this  life 
and  that  which  is  to  come,  (1  Tim.  tv.  8,)  and  if  the  free  grace 
and  actual  love  of  God  be  revealed  clearly  to  us  only  by  some 
promise,  how  then  is  sanctifi cation  («o  near  akin  to  godliness) 
excluded  from  being  any  evidence  ?  Is  lliere  no  inherent  grace 
in  a  believer  that  no  inherent  sanclification  can  be  a  true  ei-i- 
dence  ?  Verily,  thus  some  do  think ;  but  what  is  this  but  an 
open,  graceless  professiOD  that  every  believer  is  under  the  power 
of  inherent  sin,  if  he  hath  not  the  being  of  any  inherent  gi;ace  ? 
or  if  there  be  any  inherent  grace,  yet  it  is  (say  some)  so  mixed 
with  corruption,  nnd  is  such  a  spotted  and  blurred  evidence,  thitt 

I  confess  such  an  answer  would  well  become  a  blind  Papist 
who  never  knew  where  grace  grew,  (for  so  they  dispute  against 
oertiCado  talitlit  eertitudine  Jidei,  when  the  concltwion  of  faith 
arifeih  from  such  a  proposition  as  is  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
assumption  the  testimony  of  God's  Spirit  to  a  man's  own  expieri- 
cncfl  of  the  work  of  God  in  his  heart,)  hut  it  ill  becomes  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  plead  for  such  Popish  ignorance  in 
a  Christian  as  can  see  no  farther  than  his  own  buttons,  and  that 
can  not  discern  by  the  Spirit  of  God  (he  great  and  wonderful 
,  change  from  darkness  to  light,  from  death  Co  life,  from  Satan  to 
God,  the  visible  work  of  (jod,  and  graces  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
The  things  (which  the  aposile  calls  love)  "are  freely  given  to 
them  of  God."  (1  Cor.  ii.  12.)  Peter's  was  imperfect,  blotted, 
and  mixed,  and  yet  be  could  say,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  I  love 
thee."  (John  ixi.  17.)  The  poor  doubting,  mourning  man  in 
the  gospel  had  some  faith,  and  was  able  to  see  it,  and  say,  cer- 
tainly, "  Lord,  I  btlieve  ;  help  my  unbelief."  Could  Paul  discern 
(without  extraordinary  revelation,  because  he  speaks  as  an  ordi-  _ 
nary  Christian)  an  inner  man,  and  a  taw  in  his  mind,  delighting 
in  the  law  of  God,  yet  mixed  with  a  law  in  his  members,  lead- 
|ng  him  captive  into  the  law  of  sin,  and  can  not  we  ?  And  yet 
I  the  doctor  doth  cast  such  stains  upon  sincerity,  universal  obedi- 
ence, love  to  the  brethren,  etc.,  and  heaps  Up  the  same  cavils 
against  the  truth  of  them  in  the  souls  of  the  eaiols,  as  the  devil 
himself  usually  doth  by  sinful  suspicions  and  suggeHtions,  when 
JGpd  lets  him  loose  for  a  season  to  buffet  his  people,'/liat  so  they 
may  never  know  (if  it  wure  possible)  what  great  things  the  Lord 
kaih  done  for  their  souls ;  and  whoever  reads  bis  book  shall  find 


f 

|r 

^B  or 

^      nl 


:    HORAI.ITY    ■ 


that  he  makes  a  believer  sueh  a  crealure  na  can  not  lull  certainly 
whether  lie  lie  a  sincere-bearied  man  or  an  arrant  hypoerile ; 
"  whether  he  be  under  the  power  of  sin  and  Satan  or  not ;  whether 
s  Loan  can  be  discerned  from  another  to  be  a  anint  or  a  devil ; 
whether  he  hath  any  charily  and  love  to  them  that  are  saints 
from  them  that  are  not;  and  so  goes  ahout  lo  befool  and  non- 
pliu  and  puEzle  the  people  of  God,  as  the  slory  related  of  iba 
German  woman,  desiroua  to  rid  tlie  house  of  her  htisband,  who 
fir«I  making  him  drunk,  and  casting  him  into  u  sleep,  did  so  shave 
him  and  dress  him,  and  cut  and  clip  him,  that  when  he  awakened 
he  knew  not  what  lo  think  of  himself,  or  to  say  who  he  was  ;  for 
by  looking  upon  and  in  himself  he  thought  he  was  the  woman's 
husband,  and  yet  by  his  new  cut  and  hahit  he  almost  believed 
that  he  was  a  friar,  as  his  wife  affirmed.  San ctili cation  is  an 
evidence  always  in  itself  of  a  justified  estate,  although  it  be  not 
■Iways  evident  unto  us  ;  and  therefore,  what  though  a  Christiun 
■ees  his  sanctilication  luid  graces  to-dity,  and  can  not  see  them, 
but  is  doubtful  about  them,  suppose  to-morrow,  shall  he  there- 
fore reject  it  as  a  doubtful  evideuce,  which  is  ever  clear  enough 
in  itielf,  though  not  always  to  our  discerning  ?  For  I  would 
what  evidence  can  there  be  of  a  justified  estate,  but  partly 
through  dimness  and  weakness  of  faith,  (which  is  but  imperfe 
and  therefore  mixed  with  some  doublings  all  a  man's  life, 

3  or  other,)  and  partly  through  the  wise  and  adored  provi- 
dences of  God  to  exercise  our  faith,  but  that  some  time  or  other 
n  not  be  discerned  ?  Is  the  immediate  testimony  of  Gotfs 
t  (which  some  would  make  the  only  evidence)  lUways  evi- 
dent, and  the  shinings,  sbeddings,  and  actings  of  it  never  sus- 
pended, but  that  by  some  means  or  other  they  will  be  at  a  loss  ? 
Why  then  should  sanctification  bo  excluded  as  a  doubtful  evi- 
deoee,  because  sometimes  it  is,  and  at  other  times  not,  discerned '{ 
I  know  there  are  some  who.  perceiving  the  conceived  uncertainly 
of  all  such  evidences,  have  therefore  found  out  a  strange  caiholi- 
con  for  these  sick  times,  a  sure  way  of  evidencing  and  settling 
I's  consciences  in  a  way  of  peai^  and  unshaken  asauraucu 
Uve  of  CRrit't ;  and  therefore  they  make  (whicfi  1  name 
»rror)  the  siglTt  of  corruption  and  sinful  perdition,  through 
the  promise  of  the  gospel,  the  certain  and  settled  evidence  of  life 
■nd  salvation,  which  opinion,  the  least  1  can  say  of  it  is,  that 
which  Calvin  Miiil  in  l)ie  like  case,  tu  l>e  rxundantU  in  mundum 
/tmrit  Dti  JIagtUttm.     'Woe  lo  the  dark  mountains  of  Wales, 

tmnd  tlie  fat  vallcyp,  lowns,  anil  cities  in  Kngland,  and  sea  coasts 
and  istanib  in  America,  if  ever  this  delusion  take  place  I    And 
y«t  tills  flume  begins  lo  catch,  and  this  infection  lo  spread ;  and 
VOL.  III.  II 


I 


I 


I 


And       / 
and      / 

M 


i 
I 


I 
I 


Iherefore  I  find  M.  Saltmarsli  nnd  W.  C.  In  speak  out,  nnd 
openly  to  own  llinl  which  llie  Fninili^ilfi  in  formiT  limes  have 
eilher  bt-en  ashameil  or  iifi-aid  to  acknowledge,  and  that  is  this, 
vie,  that  the  promises  of  the  go^'pcl  do  belong  lo  a  sinner,  911a 
sinnur,  or  &s  a  sinner,  and  tliat  the  law  speaks  good  news  to  a 
righteous  man,  quatema  a  rigiiteous  man,  Lut  the  gospel  quite 
coiitrar}'' ;  it  is  to  &  man  qnaUniu  n  sinner,  not  as  a  regenerate 
man,  or  as  a  humble  man,  or  ns  a  saint,  or  as  a  believer,  but  aa 
B  rinntn  and  lieni^e  they  inrer.  that  a  Christian  will  never  have 
liny  settled  peace,  but  bo  olTand  on,  as  a  bone  ont  of  joint,  in  and 
nut,  a  reeil  lossed  with  the  wind,  never  knit  to  Christ,  if  ihey 
lay  hold  tin  Christ  and  Goil's  love  under  any  other  consideration 
than  as  to  sinners';  and  therefore,  tliough  they  see  no  good  in 
tliemselveg,  though  they  be  not  humbled,  brok en-hen r led  sinners, 
(as  one  preaclter  tells  Ihcm.)  nor  believing  sinners,  (as  another 
preacher  tella  them,)  yet,  if  ihey  see  themselves  sinners,  they 
must  know  a  sinner  is  the  proper  object  of  the  gospel,  and  there- 
fore this  is  ground  enough  to  believe ;  so  that  if  the  devil  tell  a 
man  thai  he  is  no  saint,  if  the  soul  can  nay,  I  am  a  sinner;  tfUio 
devil  say,  Tliou  art  a  hypocrite :  Ay,  but  a  hypocriie  is  but  »^^a 
still ;  though  I  be  not  a  broken-hearted,  this  will  be  (th|Asaj)  a 
refuge  of  peace  to  j'etreat  unto  in  all  temptations;  and  *hen  men 
have  learnt  this  lesson,  their  souls  will  not  he  in  and  out  any 
more,  but  have  constMil  peace;  for  though  ihey  have  nn  interest 
in  Christ  as  saints,  yet  they  have  real  interest  in  the  promises  of 
Christ  ns  sinners ;  hence  also,  they  say,  that  no  minister  is  10 
threaten  or  declare  ihe  curse  and  wrath  of  God  against  drunkards 
tnd  sinners,  as  such,  until  first  Christ  be  offered  in  the  gospel, 
and  tliey  refuse  him,  and  that,  if  any  do  this,  they  are  ministers 
of  the  Old  Testament,  not  of  the  New.  Sic  desinit  in  piseein 
tnulier  formoia.  Lot  us  therefore  see  what  chaff  and  what  corn, 
Tvhni  trurii  and  what  falsehood,  there  is  in  ihis  new  divinity.  / 

It  is  true,  I.  That  Ihe  gospel  reveals  the  free  grace  and  love 
of  God,  the  death  of  Christ,  and  salvation  by  him  for  poor  sin- 
ners, and  that  all  those  that  are  or  shall  be  saved  are  to  ac- 
knowledge and  aggravate  God's  love  toward  them,  in  casting  bis 
eye  upon  them  when  they  were  sinners,  notwithstanding  all  their 
sins  ;  this  the  Scripture  every  where  holds  forth.  (Horn.  v.  6.  7. 
1  Tim.  i.  19.)  '2,  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  gospel  makes  an  offer 
fif  Christ,  and  salvation  and  remission  of  ains  to  all  sinners,  where 
'  it  comes,  yea,  to  all  sinners,  us  sinners,  and  as  miserable,  yea, 
-  though  Ihey  have  sinned  long  by  unlielief,  as  is  evident,  (llos. 
xiv.  1.  Rev.  iii.  17.  Jer.  iii.  ^2.  Is.  Iv.  1.)  All  are  invited  lo 
eonie  unto  iliese  waters  freely,  without  money  or  price.     These 


TIIK   MORALITT   OF  THE   SABBATR.  123 

things  no  mnii  doubts  of  timl  knon-s  ihe  gospel ;  but  the  question 
whether  rcniiAsioii  of  sins  ami  rt?Foncitiation  in  the  gospel 
belong  to  sinnera,  but  whether  they  belong  to  sinners  immedi-  t, 
aiely  as  xinners ;  not  whether  they  are  meritud  by  Christ's  death,  ' 
and  ofTcrrd  out  of  hU  rich  gntce  imtnediately  lo  sinners,  bttt 
•  whether  they  are  actually  and  iinmt^d lately  their  own.  so  ns  they 
may  challenge  them  thus  as  their  own,  from  this  as  Troro  a  fall 
and  sufficient  evidence,  viz.,  because  ihey  are  sinnerfi,  and  because 
Hwy  sM  ihomselvea  tinners.  For  wo  grant  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  the  world  actually  to  save  sinnurs,  yet  mediately  by 
fiHtb,  and  then  they  may  see  salvation;  that  he  Jiisiifieth  also  the 
ongoilly.  liul  how?  immediately?  No,  but  mediHiety  hy  faith. 
(Rom.  iii.  5.)  and  that  where  sin  abounds,  grace  aboumls.  To 
whom?  loallsinnere?  No;  but  mediately  loallthnaeonlywliobjr 
faith  receive  this  grace,  (Rom.  v.  17;)  so  (hat  the  gospel  reveals  no  ^  , 
actual  love  and  reconciliation  immedintely  to  n  sinner,  as  a  sinner, 
but  mediately  to  a  sinner,  as  a  believing  and  broken-hearted  sin- 
ner; and  the  Scripture  is  so  clear  in  this  point,  that  whoever 
doubts  of  it  mu^t  eacutire  «um  mle,  and  we  may  say  to  them,  as 
Pi^l  to  the  Galatians,  **  0,  foolish  men,  who  hath  bewitched 
yoii  Uint  you  should  not  see  this  truth?"  For  though  Christ 
came  lo  save  sinners,  yet  he  professeth  that  he  came  not  to  call 
(he  righteous,  hut  the  sick  sinners,  (Malt.  \x.  13;)  though  God 
jusIiHetli  the  ungodly,  yet  it  is  such  an  ungodly  man  as  believelh 
in  htm.  whose  faith  is  imputed  unto  righteousness,  (Kom.  iii.  5;) 
though  grace  abounds  where  sin  abounds,  yet  it  is  not  to  all  sin- 
ners, (lor  then  all  should  be  saved,)  but  to  such  as  receive  abun- 
dance of  grace  by  faith,  (Rom.  v.  iV;)  although  God  holds  tonh 
Chrii-I  to  be  a  propitiation  for  sinners,  yet  it  is  expressly  said  to 
be  mediately  through  faith  in  his  blood,  (Itom.  iii.  24,  2^  ;)  al- 
ihuugh  tlie  Scripture  hath  concluded  all  uiulcr  sin,  that  the  prom- 
ise might  be  given,  yet  it  is  not  said  to  be  immediately  given  to 
sinners,  as  sinners,  but  mediately  to  all  ihut  believe  t  and  in  ono 
word,  though  it  be  true  that  Christ  died  fur  sinners  and  enemies, 
lliat  ihey  might  have  remission  of  sins,  (then  procured  and  mer- 
ited for  ibeui,)  yet  we  never  actually  have  nor  receive  this  re- 
mission (and  consequently  can  not  see  it)  as  our  own,  until  we  do 
believe;  for  unto  this  truth  (saith  Peler)  do  alt  the  prophets 
wiineM,  that ''  whosoever  bvlieveth  in  him  shall  receive  remission 
of  sins,"  (Acts  X.  4.1 ;)  and  hence  it  is,  that  aa  all  the  prophets 
preached  the  actual  fuvnr  of  God  only  to  sinners  as  believers,  so 
the  apostles  never  preuchi-d  it  in  New  Testament  times  otherwise ; 
and  hcnee  Peter  (AcIh  ii.  3S)  duth  not  tell  the  sorrowful  Jowa 
that  they  were  linnere,  and  that  God  loved  ibem,  and  that  Christ 


I 

1 


I 


'hud  died  for  lliem,  and  tiint  thoir  eina  were  pnrdoncd.  because 
they  were  .sinners;  bul  he  first  uxhoris  iheni  lo  rcpeni,  that  so 
they  miglK  receive  remission  of  ains;  nordolh  Paul  lell  any  man 
that  salvation  belonged  to  liim,  because  he  is  a  sinner,  but  if  thou 
believe  with  all  ihy  heart  tliou  slialt  be  saved.  (Rom.  x,  5-7.) 
If  tbe  love  of  God  be  reve:iled  lo  n  sinner,  as  a  sinner,  this  must 
be  either,  1.  By  the  witness  of  the  luw  ;  but  Ibis  is  impossible,  for 
if  the  curse  of  God  be  herein  revealed  only  to  a  sinner,  as  a  sin- 
ner, then  the  luvo  of  God  ciui  not;  but  the  law  cur«eih  every 
sinner.  (GaL  iii.  10.)  Or,  2.  By  the  light  and  witness  of  the 
gospel ;  but  this  cannot  be,  for  it  reveals  life  and  salvation  only 
to  a  believer,  and  confirms  the  Hentencti  of  Ibe  law  against  such 
a  sinner  as  believes  not.  (John  iii.  17,36.)  "  He  that  believes  not 
is  condemned  already,"  not  only  for  unbelief,  (as  some  -say,)  for 
this  doth  but  aggravate  condemnation,  but  also  for  sin,  by  which 
uian  is  first  condemned  before  he  believes,  if  ihe  apostle  may  be 
believed,  (Rom.  iii.  19;)  and  if  a  man  be  not  co'ndemned  for  sin 
before  he  believe,  then  he  is  not  a  sinner  before  he  believe  ;  for 
look,  as  Christ  hath  taken  away  any  man's  condemnation  in  his 
death,  just  so  hath  he  taken  away  bis  sin.  3.  Or  else  by  the 
witness  and  teslioiony  of  God's  Spirit ;  but  this  is  flat  contrary 
to  what  the  apostle  speaks.  (Gal.  iii.  20,  with  iv.  6,)  "  Ye  are  all 
the  sons  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus;"  and  because  ye  are 
sons,  (not  sinners,}  "he  hath  sent  tbe  Spirit  of  his  Son,  crying, 
Abba,  Father,"  (Gal.  iv.  4-6;)  and,  verily,  if  the  love  of 
God  belong  to  sinners,  as  sinners,  then  all  sinners  shall  cer- 
tainly be  saved,  (for  a  qualeniu  ad  omiie  valet  comeqiitntia  ;)  so 
that  by  this  principle,  as  sin  hath  abounded  actually  to  randemn 
all,  so  grace  hath  abounded  actually  to  save  all,  which  is  most 
pernicious  i  nor  do  I  know  what  should  make  men  embrace  thia 
principle,  unless  that  they  either  secretly  think  that  the  strait 
gate  and  narrow  way  to  life  is  now  wide  and  broad,  that  all  men 
shall  in  gospel  times  enter  in  thereat,  which  is  prodigious,  or  else 
they  must  imagine  some  Arminian  universal  redemption  and  rec- 
onciliation, and  so  put  all  men  in  a  salvable  and  reconciled 
estate  (such  as  it  is)  before  faith,  and  then  the  evidence  and 
ground  of  their  assurance  must  be  built  on  this  false  and  crazy 
tbiindatiou,  viz.,  Jesus  Christ  bad  died  to  reconcile  (and  so  hath 
iled)  all  sinners. 


rqp 
JBiitl 

And  therefor* 
gospel  ministry 
some,)  then  1 


1  am  reconciled.  If  this  be  the  bottom  of  this 
,iid  prcni'hiiig  free  grace,  (as  doubtless  it  is  in 
uld  say  these  things  only;  — 


1.  That  this  doctrine,  under  a  color  of  free  grace,  doth  as  n 


THE   MORALITY    Of  THE   SABBATH. 


I^ilify  and  lake  off  the  price  of  free  gr»ee  in  Christ's  death  aai 
my  I  kniiw  ;  I'or  what  ean  villfV  tliis  gi-mre  of  Chriai  more,  tbgaj 
tar  Christ  so.lu  shed  \m  blood  ns  that  Peier  and  Abraham  in 
heaven  shall  have  no  more  c.tuse  lo  thank  Jesus  Clirist  for  his 
love  therein  than  Judns  and  Cuin  in  hell?  it  being  eqimlij  shed 
for  one  us  much  as  for  the  othrr. 
S.  That  litis  is  n  fahe  Itoiiom  for  failh  to  rest  upon  and  gather 
•vidence  from ;  Tor,  1.  If  Chn«i  hath  died  for  all.  lie  will  then 
«criainly  save  all ;  for  »o  Paul  reiuoni,  (Rom.  riil.  SI,  and  \i. 
10;)  he  hath  given  his  Son  to  death  for  us;  how  shall  he  not  but 
with  him  give  us  nil  ot%r  thing!)  ?  and  therefore  he  will  pve 
fiuili.  and  give  rt'[ii-'nlanee,  and  give  perse v*ranee,  iind  give  eior- 
tutl  life  aUo,  which  is  mosi  false.  If  he- did  not  pray  for  all,  then 
he  hitih  not  died  for  all,  (John  svii.  9 :)  which  Srripture  never 
yet  received  scarce  the  show  of  a  rational  answer,  tliough  ttoine 
have  endeavored  it  with  all  willlngne'^s. 

8.  Thai  whereas  by  this  doctrine  they  would  elear  up  thy  way 

1(0  a  full  and  settled  evidence  and  Christian  assunuice,  lljey  do 
hereby  utterly  subvert  the  principal  foundation  of  all  ^eliicdnesa 
■nd  assurance  of  faith,  which  is  this,  viz.,  thai  if  Jesus  Chtist  be 
given  to  death  tor  me.  then  he  will  certainly  give  all  other 
-diings  to  me.  If  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his 
Sun.  much  more  shall  we  be  savei)  by  liis  life.  If  Christ  huih 
^ed  and  risen  for  u«.  who  then  shall  condemn  i  who  shall  then 
Mpamie  us  from  God's  tove?  (Uom.  viii.  Si  ;  vi.  9,  lU.)  But 
if  tliey  KbnII  bold  no  such  principles,  I  would  then  know  how  uny 
muii  rtui  Imve  evideut'jj  of  this,  vix.,  that  God  loves  him,  and 
UiHi  Christ  bath  died  lor  him  while  he  is  a  sinner,  and  as  he  is 
>  sinner?  Or  how  any  minisler  of  the  New  Teslamont  can  say 
to  any  man  (under  the  {rawer  of  his  sin*  and  the  devil)  that  he 
is  nut  condemned  for  his  sins,  bill  that  God  loves  him,  and  tiiat 
Chritt  bath  died  for  liim,  without  preaching  falsehoods,  mid  lies, 
and  dreams  of  iheir  own  heart  'f  Fur,  1.  God  halh  not  loved  nor 
elected  all  sinnerf^,  nor  haih  Chrii^i  died  for  all  sinners.  2.  If 
every  man  l>o  in  a  slale  of  condcmniiii<in  before  he  believe  the 
pMjiel.  then  nn  man  can  be  said  to  be  in  a  stale  of  reconciliation, 
tind  tbM  God  huLh  laved  him  until  be  refuse  the  giwpel,  but 
every  man  is  in  a  slate  of  eun<lemnaliui)  before  he  believe,  be- 
miine  our  i^aviiiur  expresfty  telU  us.  ihat  by  fnilh  we  pass  from  t 
death  to  life,  (•lolm  v.  24.)  and  ho  that  halh  not  the  Sun  hath  ' 
not  life,  ( I  John  v.  12:)  and  iheretbre,  if  ihose  he  mini»ioiii  rf 
the  New  Testament  who  flnt  preach  to  all  the  drunkHrds  and 
whoremongers  and  villuiiis  in  a  parish  ihut  God  loves  them, 
thai  Uwy  ar«  reconciled  by  Chrisr*  death,  nnd  that  they  j 
■  11* 


I 
I 


I 


126  THE   MORALITY    OF   THE   SABBATH. 

know  it  because  Ihey  are  Binners.  ihen  let  the  heavenB  hear,  and 
the  earth  know,  timt  sll  pui'h  mitiisters  am  false  prophets,  and 
cry  Pence,  peace,  where  God  proclaims  wraih.  and  that  they 
a«]iiit  them  whom  God  condemns  ;  and  if  they  be  ministers  of 
the  Old  Tesiamentl  ppirii,  who  first  show  men  their  condemned 
estate,  and  then  present  God  as  trroth  againHt  lliem  while  ihey 
be  in  their  Rin,  that  so  they  may  prise  and  fly  to  favor  and  free 
grace,  then  such  are  ministers  of  the  Old  TeslnmenI,  and  not  of  the 
Kew,  because  tliey  preach  the  truth ;  and  if  preacliing  the  truth 
be  an  Old  Testament  ministry,  no  wise  man  llien,  I  hope,  will 
deeire  the  new  wine,  for  the  old  is  better.  While  the  lion  sleeps, 
and  God  is  silent,  and  conscience  slumbers,  all  the  beasts  and 
wild  sinners  of  the  world  (and  many  preachers  too)  may  think 
that  there  is  no  terror  in  God,  no  curse  or  wrath  upon  themselves, 
in  the  mid»t  of  the  rage,  increase,  and  power  of  all  their  sins ; 
but  when  this  lion  roars,  and  God  awakens,  and  conscience  looks 
above  head,  they  shall  then  see  how  miserably  'they  have  been 
deceived  ;  they  may  slight  sin.  alwlish  condemnation,  talk  of  and 
wonder  at  free  grace  now,  and  believe  easily,  because  they  are 
Binners;  but  certainly  they  shall  be  otherwise  minded  then. 
Some  men  may  have  good  ends  in  preaching  God's  free  grace 
af^er  this  manner  in  the  gospel,  and  make  the  gospel  a  revelation 
of  God's  actual  love  to  sinners,  as  sinners,  and  make  a  Chris- 
tian's evidence  of  it  nothing  else  but  the  sight  of  his  sin,  and  of 
bis  being  under  the  power  of  it ;  but  little  do  they  think  what 
Satan,  the  father  of  this  fiilse  doctrine,  aims  at,  which  are  these 
fthur  lliinge  chiefly:  — 

1.  That  sanctification.  faith,  etc.,  might  be  no  evidence  at  all 
tc  a  Christian  of  a  good  esiaie,  for  this,  they  say,  is  a  doubtful 
evidence,  and  an  unsettling  wa}'  of  assurance  ;  because  they  will 
hereby  be  as  bones  out  of  joint,  in  and  oui ;  humbled  to-day,  and 
then  comforted  ;  but  hard  hearted  to-morrow,  and  then  at  a  loss ; 
whereas  to  see  one's  self  a  sinner,  that  is  a  constant  evidence, 
for  we  are  always  sinners,  and  the  gospel  proclaims  peace  to 

2.  That  so  men  may  keep  their  lusts  and  sins,  and  yet  keep 
their  peace  loo ;  for  if  peace  be  the  portion  of  a  man  under  the 
power  of  sin  and  Satan,  look  ihen,  as  he  may  have  it,  why  may 
he  not  keep  it  upon  the  same  terms  ?  And  therefore  W.  C. 
saith,  that  if  conscience  objf^cl,  thou  art  a  hypocrite,  (perhaps 
truly ;)  yet  a  hypocrite  is  but  a  sinner,  and  God's  love  belongs 
to  sinners,  as  sinners.  And  if  this  be  thus,  wliat  doth  this  doc- 
trine aim  at  but  to  reconcile  God  and  Belial,  Christ  and  Uum< 
man ;  not  only  to  open  the  door  to  all  manner  of  wickedneas, 
but  to  comfort  meu  therein? 


THE   SIOBiLITr    OF  THE   SABBATH.  187 

3.  That  so  he  may  liring  men  in  time  purppsely  to  Bin  tha 
more  fretly,  that  so  they  may  have  llie  (blearer  evidence  of  tha 
love  of  God  ;  for  if  Gotl'a  love  be  revealed  lo  Bionctv,  as  sinners, 
then,  the  more  sinfal,  the  more  denr  evidence  he  hath  of  God'» 
love ;  and  therefore  one  once  entangled  with  these  delusions 
was  induced  to  commit  a  gross  wickedness,  that  more  full  assur- 
ance might  be  attained. 

4.  That  BO  the  true  preacliing  and  ministry  of  tlie  gospel  of 
God's  free  grace  might  be  abolished,  (at  lensi  deRpised.)  which 
is  this,  viz.,  thou  poor,  condemned  sinner,  here  is  Christ  Jesus, 
and  with  him  eternal  remission  of  sins  and  reconriliaiion,  if  thou 
believe  and  receive  this  grace  offered  humbly  and  thankfully, 
for  (bis  is  gospel.  (Matt,  xxviii.  I'J.  filark  xvi.  IC.  Rom.  x. 
5-8 ;  iii.  21,  25.  Acts  viii.  37.)  And  hence  M.  W.  C.  hath 
these  words,  "Tlutt  if  the  gospel  hold  forth  Christ  and  salvstioo 
upon  believing,  (as  many,  saith  he,  preach.)  it  were  then  litUe 
better  tidings  than  the  law."  Ah,  wretched  and  unworthy  speech, 
(hat  when  Jesus  Christ  himself  would  show  the  great  love  of 
God  unto  the  world,  (John  iii.  16,)  ho  makes  it  out  by  two  ex- 
pressions of  it  1.  Thai  the  Father  sent  his  only  Son.  2.  That 
whosoever  did  believe  in  him,  (or  if  they  did  believe  in  him,) 
they  should  have  eternal  life.  The  Lord  shows  wonderful  love, 
that  whoever  believe  may  have  Christ  and  eternal  life  by  believ- 
ing ;  but  this  doctrine  breathing  out  God's  dearest  love,  by  this 
man's  account  is  liiile  belter  than  law,  which  breathes  out  nothing 
but  wrath.     But  why  doth  he  speak  ihufl  ?     Because  (saiih  be) 

isy  lo  keep  the  ten  commandments  as  to  believe  of 
Very  true,  as  lo  believe  of  one's  self.     But  what  is 

't  the  preaching  and  holding  forth  Christ  and  salvatioD 
upon  condition  of  believing?  For  is  not  this  preaching  of  tllo 
gONpel  the  instrument  and  means  of  working  that  faith  in  us 
which  the  Lord  requires  of  us  in  the  gositel  ?  And  must  not 
Jesus  Christ  use  the  means  for  the  end  ?  Were  not  those  throe 
thousand  broughrTiito  Unrliil~by^1anlir  by  Peter's  promise  of 
remission  of  sins  upon  their  repentance?  Were  not  many  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  when  they  heard  this  gospel  thus  preached 
upon  cmndition  of  believing?  (Acts  x.  43.)  Doth  not  ihe  apos- 
''  '.  that  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  to  ealvHtiou,  because 
n  is  Christ's  rigbleousnesss  revealed  (not  to  sinners,  as 
sinners)  but  from  faith  to  faith  ?  The  condition  of  works  is 
impossible  to  be  wrought  in  uh  by  the  SpiriL  but  the  condition 
of  faith,  (though  ii  be  imposiijble  for  us  lo  work  it  in  our  hearts.) 
yet  it  is  possible,  easy,  and  usual  for  God  to  work  it  by  requir- 
ing of  it,  (Jer.  iii.  22.)  which  is  do  prejudice  to  God's  free  gnw«, 


4 


123  THE   IIOBALITY    OF   1 

ben\U!«  failli  is  purpos{-ly  required  and  wrouglit,  because  it 
diieHy  hoiioro  and  advancelli  free  grace.  (Rom.  iv.  16.)  Tlie 
promise  \s  of  faiili,  tliat  it  niiylit  be  \iy  grace.  If  Mr.  W.  0. 
will  not  jireai^h  Christ  u;N)n  bidieTing,  how  will  he  nr  any  man 
else  preai^li  it  ?  Will  ihey  tell  all  men  ihal  God  loves  ihem, 
,and  tliitC  Christ  hath  died  for  ihein,  and  tliut  he  ilmt  girea 
grace  and  pulvmion  will  work  failh  in  rhem  ?  Tnily,  thus  W. 
C.  seems  to  atfiriii ;  but  if  they  shall  preach  so  to  all  siimor.s,  as 
sinnai's.  nnd  tell  them  abi^olulely  God  will  work  faiih  in  them 
also,  I  suppose  ihai  tlieclmreh  walls,  jind  plentiful  and  abundant 
experience,  would  teslify  against  tliis  falsehood  ;  and  ilie  Scrip- 
ture teslitiea  sufficiently  that  every  mnn  shall  not  have  faith  to 
whom  [lie  gospel  is  preached.  Now.  I  do  l>eseech  the  God  and 
,  Father  of  lights  lo  pity  his  straying  servant*,  who  are  led  into 
those  deep  and  dangerous  delusions  tbrough  feeble  mistake  of  the 
true  ditrerenee  between  Old  and  New  Testament  ministries,  and 
tliHt  he  woulri  pity  his  people  for  wiiose  sins  God  hath  lei  loose 
these  blinding  and  hardening  duulrines,  by  means  of  wliich  thej 
are  tempted  lo  receive  that  as  the  goapel  of  truth  which  is  but' 
a  mere  lie,  and  lo  take  tlmt  !U  an  evidence  of  salvation  Ihat  is,  in 
trull),  the  evidence  of  perdition  aud  condemnation,  as  hath  been 
shown. 

7%MI»  1 18.  The  second  thing  remains  to  be  cleared,  whetlier 
eanctili cation  may  not  be  u  first  evidence,  and  thereibre  Biore 
than  a  carnal  inferior  and  last  evidence,  us  M.  Saltmarsh  calls 
it  i  for  if  it  be  (not  a  iluubtfol)  but  a  clear  and  certain  eWdeneo 
in  itself,  (us  haih  been  proved,)  why  miiy  it  nol  be  a  first  evidence? 
Why  may  not  ibe  Spirit  of  God,  wlio  works  it  in  a  person  justi- 
fied, first  reveal  it  as  an  evidence  that  he  is  justified?  What 
mortal  man  can  limit  ijic  Spirit  of  God  to  whal  evidence  he  shall 
first  bring  into  the  conscience  of  a  justified  e«lale  ?  For  li.'i  sanc- 
tificatiun  be  taken  in  the  largest  sense  for  any  work  of  saving 
grace  wrought  in  the  elect,  (whether  in  vocation  to  faith,  or  in 
Ban  cti  Scat  ion.  which,  strictly  taken,  follows  our  justiUcution  by 
faith.)  and  take  evidence  not  for  evidence  of  ihe  object,  (for  Christ 
Jesus  in  his  free  grace  must  be  seen  dm  as  the  ground  an  which 
faith  resle,)  but  tor  evidence  of  testimony  la  the  subject,  and  . 
then  I  Ihus  argue,  that  this  first  evidence  of  special  actual  love 
in  beholding  God's  free  grace  to  a  sinner  is  either, — 

1.  Without  fH?ing  of  tliith  and  other  graces  j  — 

Or.  i.  Wiihout  the  seeing  of  them  only,  tlie  eye  looking  up 
to  Christ  and  free  grace. 

But  this  first  evidence  is  not  without  the  l>eing  of  faith  and 
IioUue^  for  then  it  should  be  lo  »  uiau  actually  uudtr  ihe  power 


I 


THE   UORALITV   OP  THE    SABBATn.  1:J9 

of  sin,  *ni  his  filthy  lusts,  and  the  devil ;  which  hllth  been 
olreadj  proved  in  llie  former  Thesis  lo  be  a  mere  delusion  ;  (here 
being  no  such  word  of  the  gospel  which  reve.iU  God's  free  lovB 
And  actual  reconciliation  to  a  sinner,  as  a  sinner,  and  as  under 
the  power  of  hia  sins,  but  the  gospel  rather  reveals  the  quite  contra- 
ry ;  and  to  affirm  the  witness  of  llie  Spirit  clears  thia  up.  is  lo  pre- 
tend a  teatimony  of  the  Spirit  contrary  to  the  testimony  of  the 
word  ;  and  yet  I  strongly  fear,  and  do  fully  believe,  ihal  tliia  is 
•  the  first  evidence  which  men  plead  for,  viz.,  lo  see  God's  love 
toward  them,  while  they  neither  see  grace  nor  any  change  of 
heart  in  them  ;  or  have  grace,  but  are  still  under  the  dominion 
of  their  sin. 

And  on  the  other  side,  if  any  affirm  that  this  evidence  is  not 
without  the  being  of  grace,  but  only  without  the  seeing  of  il.  so 
that  a  Christian's  first  evidence  is  the  feeling  of  God's  free  grace 
out  of  himself,  without  seeing  any  faith  or  grace  in  himself,  and 
seeing  nothing  else  but  sm  m  himself,  this  I  confess  is  nearer 
the  truth,  but  it  is  an  error  which  leads  a  man  to  a  precipice,  and 
near  unto  the  pit ;  for  if  this  be  so,  then  these  things  will  una- 
voidably follow  :  — 

1.  That  a  Chrbtian  must  see  the  love  of  God  toward  him 
in  Christ,  and  yet  must  not  see  himself  to  be  the  person  lo  whom 
this  love  only  belongs  ;  for  (according  lo  this  very  opinion  itself) 
it  belongs  only  to  a  believer,  and  one  that  hath  the  being  of  grace, 
and  not  to  a  sinner,  as  a  sinner. 

2.  Then  a  Christian  must  not  see  the  love  of  Christ  and  free 
grace  of  God  by  that  proposition  or  testimony  of  the  Spirit  which 
reveals  it,  and  that  is  this,  Tufideltt,  (Thou  beUever,)  called  and 
sanctified,  art  freely  beloved :  and  thus  a  man  must  not  see  his 
estate  good  by  the  light  of  the  Spirit ;  nay,  ihua  a  Christian  must 
receive  ihe  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  which  assures  him  that  he  \a 
loved  without  understanding  the  meaning  of  the  Spirit ;  which  is, 
(not  thou  sinner,  as  such.)  but  thou,  believer,  art  beloved ;  not  thou 
that  hnst  no  grace,  but  thou  that  hast  the  beingof  it,  art  beloved. 

3.  Then  the  first  evidence  is-built  upon  a  mere  weakness,  nay^ 
upon  an  untruth  and  falsehood  ;  for  it  is  a  mere  weakness  not  to 
see  that  wliich  we  should  see,  vii.,  the  being  of  faith  and 
grace  in  the  heart,  in  which  respect  the  promise  is  sealed :  and  if 
any  man,  by  not  seeing  it,  shall  think  and  say  there  is  no  grace, 
no  faith,  no  sanctificailon,  and  now  he  sees  God's  love  to  such  a 
one,  and  he  tliinks  himself  to  be  such  a  one,  when  he  nees 
God's  free  grace,  and  hath  this  first  evidence,  it  is  a  falsehood 
and  an  untruth,  for  it  is  supposed  lo  be  there  in  the  l>eing  of  tt 
all  ihia  while.     Suppose,  therefore,  that  some  Christians,  at  their 


130  TUK   JIORAI.ITT    or  THE    SAUE.ITH. 

first  relnm  ami  conversion  to  Goii,  or  aftfrivtirJ.  liave  frrnce  and 
faith,  but  ^ee  it  not  in  their  nssuraniTe  nt'  (ityl's  love,  (l)ie  cmi- 
neney  of  the  object  and  good  of  il  swallowing  up  llieir  llionglita 
and  hearts  from  atiending  lheniR);]ve.s)  yet  tlie  question  is  ^o 
jur^  ;  ihej  do  not  see,  nay,  pliuuld  not  sac  and  take  notice  of 
the  bein^  of  them  in  themselreii.  le  not  this  a  mei'e  weakness 
and  fttlsuhood  which  is  now  made  the  mystery  of  this  tirsi  evi- 
dence, and  indeed  somewhat  like  Cusanus's  tumma  lapicntia, 
which  he  makes  to  be  this,  viz.,  altingere  illud  quod  est  inaltin- 
(/ibile  I'nallinr/iMiler,  that  a  Christian  must  see  and  touch  God's 
deep  love,  and  yet  neither  see,  nor  touch,  nor  feel  any  change  in 
himself,  or  any  tteing  of  grace,  when  in  truth  it  is  there,  in 
which  respect  also  God's  free  grace  and  love  in  reveoled  ? 

4.  If  this  be  the  llrat  evidence,  then  no  minister,  no,  nor  any 
aposile  of  Christ  Jesus,  can  give  any  first  eridence  of  God's 
love  hy  the  ordinary  dispensation  of  the  gospel;  for  ahhou^h  a 
'minister  may  say.  Thou  art  a  sinner,  therefore  the  Lord  Jesus 
may  save  thee,  yet  he  can  not  say  upon  that  ground  that  there- 
fore the  Lord  Jc^us  will  save  him,' for  then  every  sinner  should 
I  be  saved.  No  minister  can  say  to  any  unbeliever,  Christ  hath 
I  redeemed  thee,  therefore  believe;  or  say  absolutely.  Thy  sins  are 
pardoned ;  for  then  he  should  preach  contrary  to  the  word,  which 
expressly  tells  us,  that  he  that  believes  not  is  already  con- 
demned. No  minister  can  say  Giod  will  work  faith  in  all  you 
llial  are  sinners,  as  halh  been  shown;  but  they  can  say.  Thou, 
believer,  art  pardoned ;  thou  art  sanciilied,  ai"!  reconciled,  etc.  It 
is  therefore  au  evil  speech  of  one  lately  in  print,  who  calls  that 
ft  bastard  assurance,  arising  from  a  lying  spirit,  which  first  pro- 
ceeds from  the  sight  of  any  grace,  and  thence  concludes  they  are 
justified  and  shall  be  save<i.  For  I  would  thus  argue,  that  this 
work  of  grace  (suppose  love  to  the  saints,  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness,  universal  respect  tuall  God's  commandments,  etc.) 
is  either  common  to  hypocrites,  and  unsound,  or  else  it  is  pecu- 
liar to  ihs  elect  and  sincere.  If  the  tirst,  then  it  can  not  lie 
either  first  or  second  evidenco  j  il  can  be  no  evidence  ai  all, 
^ther  without  or  with  seeing,  lirsl.  God's  free  love  to  unners,  as 
einners  ;  if  the  second,  then  either  God's  promise  (made  to  such  ' 
as  are  hungry  and  humble,  and  have  a  work  peculiar  to  Go<)'a 
elect  in  them)  must  be  false,  (which  is  blasphemous  to  imagine,) 
(W  else,  whensoever  it  is  seen,  whether  first  or  kst,  it  must  needs 
be  a  most  blessed,  and  sweet,  and  sure  evidence  ;  fur  when  we  say 
that  such  a  work  of  grace  may  be  a  first  evidence,  we  do  not 
mean  as  if  the  work,  simply  considered  in  itself,  could  give  in  any 
cvidenus,  but  only  as  the  free  promiso  uf  grace  is  made  to  suuli 


THli   MUBALirr    Of   TlIK    a.VliDATir. 

HS  have  siich  a  work  of  grace  :  this  promiae,  wc  say,  lo  suuh  per- 
tou»,  whensoever  iliey  see  this  wort,  gives  in  lull  and  clear 
evidence  oi  their  blessed  eslalc.  And  if  the  word,af  grace  lo  a 
siiini^r,  as  a  sinner,  may  give  in  a  flrst  evidence,  (aa 
pne.)  ihen  much.more  may  it  give  in  evidence  where  iheiti  is 
nut  only  the  word  of  grace,  but  also  the  Spirit  of  grace,  yeu,  the 
work  of  grace,  lo  osaure  the  conscience  ;  and  for  any  to  ultirin 
that  liulh  and  sanctilication  are  ^^oo<l  evidences,  if  jnstilication  be 
(int  evident,  is  but  a  quirk  of  fi-olliy  wit ;  for  it  may  be  as 
safely  affirmed,  on  llie  contrary,  llint  J UKiifi cation  ii  a  gJud  evi- 
dence, if  faith  and  sanctification  be  tirsC  evident,  fur  it  U  not  thc>« 
simply,  but  the  promide  which  i*  our  eviUcnee,  which  U  never  lo 
a  sinner,  as  «ucli.  I  shall  therefore  conclude  these  things  with  v| 
ihuwing  the  troe  grounds  of  effectual  evidence  of  the  love  of  Cbrigt. 
77i«(i«  U9.  The  free  grace  of  God  in  Clirist  (not  works)  19 
■be  only  sure  foundation  of  justifying  faith,  or  upon  which  faith 
i«  builL  (Rom.  iii.  24,  25.  1  Pel.  ii.  4-6.  Matt.  xvi.  18.) 
This  free  grace  therefore  must  first  be  revealed  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  the  ministry  of  the  guspel  in  order  unto  faith,  (Ram.  x. 
14,  lot  Kjih.i.  IS.Wwbich  general  revelation  of  free  grace  toaW 
make  tu  be  tbe  H rat  Evidence  on  which  faith  rests,  ami  thus  far  it 
is  irue ;  but  now  this  free  grace  is  revenleil  two  ways  :  — 

1.  In  the  free  offer  of  it  to  he  our  own  by  receiving  it.    (AcU 
z.  13.     GaL  ii.  IS.) 

2.  In  the  free  promise  of  il,  revealing  it  us  our  own  already, 
having  actually  and  effectually  received  it.    (John  i.  12.     Rom.    ' 
V.  1.  2.     1  John  V.  12.) 

The  free  offer  of  grace  (eonini n  i ny  God's  call,  command mcmb 

uid  i>escechingg  to  believe  and  Tie  ruconcilejjj^  jjyca  utrightjo 

I  inssession  of  Ohrist,  or  to  come  and  take,  and  so  posses^ 

-'!'  ' i- J!.!.l.  -Pi--  !!!  11-1     *  ''-"f^-ltomZtt^ 

mutable  pur- 


iBL  ^    ^.        ■     -        ■     -        ■ 

jjlirist  JcsuH  b^  J'aJir.~Tder.  iii.  22.  1  Cor. 
The  free  promW  of~gmcp  (containing  revealed  ii 
poses  and  actual  assurances  of  present  and  future  grace)  gives  u 
right  to  the  JViiiiion  of  Christ,  or  to  enjoy  Christ  as  a  free  gift 
when  it  is  ofier«(l ;  llie  comnumd  and  desire  of  the  donor  lo  re- 
ceive it  to  be  our  own.  gives  right  and  power  to  possess  it;  and 
when  it  is  received,  his  promise  to  us,  assuring  us  that  it  is  and 
■liall  continue  oiir  own.  givesi  us  right  and  privilege  lo  ei^oy  it 

i  make  use  of  it.  Fur  by  two  immutable  things  (ilie  promise 
cunlirmed  by  uath)  we  have  sirong  conflation  who  have  Bed  for 
nrfuge  lo  the  hope  before  us.  (UeU  vi.  17-19.)  The  free  oBn\ 
is  the  first  ipTiunilof  our  failh.  why  we  receive  Christ  10  be  our  I 

n  :  but  llie  fre«iiini»ii»i.'lis  tlie  firil  ground  of  the  assarance  of  I 
faith,  why  we  are  usfluntl  and  persuaded  thai  he  \a  onr  own  1 


I 


iSi 


^ already;  for  the  jfospel  contains  tliree  things:  1.  The  revela- 
tion of  Christ.  2.  The  offer  of  Chriel.  3.  The  promise  of 
Christ  lo  all  thme  that  i-eceive  lliis  offer.  Hence  faith  (which 
runs  parallel  with  the  gospel,  ihe  proper  object  of  it)  first  sees 

.Christ:  secondly,  receives  Christ;  thirdly,  is  assured  of  the  love 

[of  Christ,  having  received  him. 

I'he  free  offer  of  grace  being  made  lo  (he  soul,  because  it 
poor  and  sinful,  cursed  and  miserable,  and  that  therefore 
would  receive  Christ,  hence  it  is  that  in  this  respect  the  soul 
not  bound  first  to  see  some  good  in  itself  and  so  to  receive  him, 
but  rather  is  bound  (at  first  breathings  of  G!od  upon  ir)  rather  to 
eee  no  good,  i.  e.,  nothing  but  sin  and  perdition,  death  and  dark- 
ness, enmity  and  weakness,  and  therefore  to  receive  him.  (Luke 
xiv.  21.    Rev.  iii.  17,  18.    Gal.  iii.  21.    Rom.  xi.  32.    Hoa.  xiii. 
3.)     Gut  the  promise  of  free  grace  being  actuaily  given  to  the 
H>ul,  (and  not  declared  only  as  it  is  in  the  free  offer,  because  it 
halh  received  Chriat  already,  by  which  he  is  actually  its  own,) 
'  'iS  bound  to  see  some 
I,  and  so  embrace  and 
So  that  although,  in 


hence  it  is,  ihat  in  this  respect  the  & 

good  or  saving  work  of  grace  in  itself  fi 

receive  the  promise  and  Christ  Jesus  in 


gChri. 


)  be  0 


r  believe  in  him,  yet, 
3  must  first  see  some 
2]se  we  have  no  just 
n  challenge  any  promise 
n  Christ,  the  foundation 


selves  wherefore  we  should  receive  him 
in  receiving  him  as  our  own  already,  t 
good,  (the  work  of  free  grace  in  us.)  ( 
ground  thus  lo  receive  him.  No  man  cb 
belonging  to  him  without  having  a  part  ii 

^f  them ;  Ho  man  can  have  Christ  but  by  receiving  of  him,  or 
believing  in  him.  (John  i.  12.)  Hence,  therefore,  they  ihat  say 
lhat  the  first  evidence  of  God's  love  and  free  grace  or  actual  fa- 
vor is  lo  a  sinner,  as  a  sinner,  had  need  consider  what  they  say  ; 
for  is  it  to  a  sinner  as  possessed  with  Christ  and  receiving  of 
him,  or  as  dispossessed  of  Christ,  not  having  of  him,  but  rather 
refusing  and  rejecting  of  him  ?  If  they  say  the  first,  they  llien 
speak  the  truth  ;  but  then  they  raze  down  their  own  pernicious 
principle,  that  Christ  and  God's  love  belongs  to  them,  as  sinners. 
If  they  aUirm  the  latter,  then  they  do  injuriously  destroy  God's 
free  grace  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  who  think  to  possess  promises 
without  possessing  Christ,  or  to  have  promises  of  grace  without 
having  Christ  ilie  foundation  of  them  all.  For,  though  the  com- 
mon love  of  God  (as  (he  bare  offer  of  grace  is)  may  be  matiifest''d 
without  having  Clirist,  yet  special,  aclual  love  can  not  he  actually 
our  own,  without  liaving  and  first  receiving  of  him;  and  if  the 
Spiiit  of  God  convince  the  world  of  sin  (and  consequently  of 
condemnation)  while  they  do  not  believe,  (John  xvi.  9,)  I  wonder 


laa 


bow  it  can  then  convince  tbem  of  pardon  of  sin  and  rtconoiliatioii 
"before  they  do  believe?  unless  we  will  ima^ne  it  lo  be  «  lying 
I   ipiril,  which  is  blasphemous.     These  things  not  considered  of, 
'    liave  and  do  occasion  much  error  at  this  day  in  the  point  of  eTt- 
dancing,  and  hath  been  an  inlet  of  deep  delusion,  and  open  gnps 
re  been  made  hereby  lo  the  looee  ways  and  depths  of  Familisu 
I  gross  Arminianism,  and  therefore,  being  well  considered  of, 
<  suflii'ient  to  clear  up  the  ways  of  llioee  failliful  servants  of 
the  Lord,  (who  dare  not  sow  pillows,  nor  cry  peace  to  the  wicked, 
mufh  less  to  sinners,  as  sinners.)  both  from  the  slanderous  impu* 
lation  of  legal  ministrations  after  an  Old  Testament  manner,  ad 
'  niso  of  making  works  the  ground  of  faith,  or  the  causes  of  assur- 
ance of  faith :  Ihe  free  offer  being  ihe  ground  of  the  -one,  n.nd 
llie  free  promise  the  cause  and  ground  of  the  otticr.     Briefly, 
therefore,  — 

1.  The  free  offer  of  grace  is  the  first  evidence  to  a  poor  toGl 
sinner  ihni  he  may  be  beloved. 

2.  The  receiving  of  this  offer  by  fnilli  (relatively  considered  in 
respect  of  Christ's  fpoiless  righteousness)  is  the  first  evidence 
showing  why  he  is  beloved,  or  what  hath  moved  God  actually  lo 
tove  hira. 

3.  The  work  of  sanctilicalion  (which  is  the  fruit  of  our  rccctv- 
I  lag  this  offer)  is  the  first  evidence  showing  that  he  is  beloved. 

I       If,  therefore,  a  condemned  sinner  be  asked  whether  God  nuty 

love  hiro,  and  why  be  thinks  so,  he  may  answer.  Because  Jesus 

'    Christ  is  held  forth  and  offered  to  snch  a  one.     If  he  be  further 

asked,  why  or  what  he  thinks  should  move  God  to  love  him,  he 

Eiay  answer.  Because  I  have  reccivcil  Christ's   righteousness 

offered,  for  which  righteousness'  sake  only  I  know  I  am  beloved, 

I    now  1  have  received  it.     If  he  be  asked,  lastly,  how  be  knows 

L'  nertninly  that  be  is  beloved,  he  may  answer  safely  and  conti- 

|i  4efttly.  Bei'auso  I  am  sanctified ;  I  am  poor  in  spirit,  tbereforu 

.    mine  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  I  do  mount,  and  therefore  I  shall 

be  comforted ;  I  do  hunger  and  ihirst,  and  therefore  I  shall  be 

Mlisfied.  eCc     We  necil,  in  lime  of  distress  and  temptation,  all 

these  evidences ;  and  therefore  it  is  greatest  wisdom  to  pray  for 

that  Spirit  which  may  clear  ihem  all  up  unto  us,  rather  than  lo 

^  OMiteiia  which  should  be  the  tirsi. 

Atid  thus  we  see  that  the  whole  moral  law  is  our  rule  of  life, 
I  sod  consequently  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  which  is  a  branch  of 
Ftlus  rule  We  now  proceed  to  show  the  third  branch  of  things 
I  genermlly  and  primarily  moral. 

f      T^emt  120.     Thirdly,  not  only  a  day,  nor  only  a  rest  day,bul 
L'IIK'  rast  day,  or  Sabbath  day,  (which  is  expressed  and  ezproisly 


KU  Tin;  MoUALiTv  oy  hie  saiihatu. 

inlcrprt;led  in  tlie  rommamlmenl  lo  be  tlie  seventh  Jti}',  or  a 
sevL-nih  diiy  of  God's  (lelermming.  aix)  [liert-fore  called  l/,e  Sah- 
bath  of  the  Lord  uiir  Cad.')  is  liere  also  enjoined  und  commanded, 
as  generally  moral.  For  if  a  diiy  be  moral,  wtial  day  mu£t  it  be? 
If  it  be  said,  that  any  day  which  human  wisdom  shall  delcrmine, 
whether  one  day  in  a  hundred  or  a  Ihou^and,  or  one  day  in  many 
yearB ;  if  this  only  bo  generally  moml,  then  the  rule  of  morality 
may  be'brokeo,  because  the  rule  of  equality  may  be  thus  broken 
by  liuraan  determination  ;  for  il  may  be  very  unequal  and  unjust 
to  give  God  one  day  in  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  for  his  worship, 
and  to  assume  so  many  beside  to  ourselves  foi'  our  own  use. 
There  is,  therefore,  something  else  more  particularly,  jct  prinm- 
rily,  moral  in  this  command,  and  that  is  (lie  SalAath  dag,  or  Put'h 
a  day  wherein  there  ajipears  an  equal  division  and  a  fit  propor- 
tion between  lime  for  rest  and  time  for  work,  a  time  for  God  and 
a  time  for  man,  and  that  is  a  seventh  duy  which  God  deiermines. 
A  ill  proportion  of  time  for  God  is  moral,  because  equal;  man 
can  not  determine  nor  set  out  this  proportion ;  God  therefore  only 
can  and  must.  A  day  therefore  ihat  he  shall  determine  is  moral , 
and  if  ho  declares  his  determine  ion  lo  a  seventh,  a  seventh  day 
is  therefore  moral.  Gomarus  ronfesselh  that,  by  ihe  analogy  of 
this  commandment,  not  one  day  in  a  thousand,  or  when  man 
pteaseth,  hut  that  one  day  in  seven  is  moral,  at  least  equal,  fit, 
and  congruous  to  observe  the  same ;  and  if  the  analogy  he  spenkii 
of  arideth  virlute  manda/i  divtjit,  or  by  virtue  of  God's  command- 
ment, the  cause  is  in  eSeet  yielded :  but  if  this  analogy  be  made 
virtutt  tibertah's  himanO',  so  (hat  human  liberty  may  do  well  to 
g^ve  God  one  in  seven,  (because  ihe  Jews  did  so,  and  why  should 
Christians  be  more  scant  ?)  then  I  sec  not  but  human  libia-ly  may 
assume  power  to  itself  lo  imjKise  monthly  and  annual  holy  daya 
as  well,  because  the  Jews  had  their  new  moons  and  yearly  festi- 
vals i  and  by  analogy  thereof,  why  may  not  Christians  who  have 
more  grace  poured  out  u)Kin  them,  and  more  love  shown  unto 
them  under  the  gospel,  hold  some  meet  proportion  with  them 
therain  also,  aa  well  as  in  Sabbaths  ?  But  it  can  never  be  proved 
that  God  hath  left  any  human  wisdom  at  liberty  to  make  holy 
days,  by  the  rule  of  Jewish  projmnions.  Beside,  if  bnman  wi:> 
dam  see  it  meet  and  congruous  to  give  God  at  least  one  day  in 
seven,  this  wisdom  and  reason  is  either  regulated  by  some  law, 
and  iben  it  is  by  virtue  of  the  law  of  God  that  he  should  have 
one  day  in  seven,  or  it  is  not  regulated  by  a  law,  and  then  we  arc 
left  to  a  loose  end  again,  for  rann  to  appoint  wlial  day  be  sees 
I  Biect  in  a  shorter  or  a  longer  lime,  his  own  reason  lieing  his  only 
towi  and  this  neither  Gomarus  nor  llic  words  of  the  command- 


THE   MOKALITV    OF  TUE   t 


13:; 


^n[  will  allow,  wlikli  sets  nnd  flxctli  ttic  dny,  trhii:h  we  see  is 
e  day  in  seven,  which  noi  man,  bul  God.  Rliall  deiemltne,  and 
thtri^fore  called  tde  Sabbalh  oftlie  Lord  out  God.  ~~ 

I  Thetit  121.  The  hardest'knot  herein  to  unloose  lies  in  this, 
I  to  know  whether  &  seventh  day  in  ^nerul  which  God  shall  de- 
\  1«rmine,  or  that  pniliculnr  seventh  day  from  the  creation,  be  here 
\  6iily  eomninnded  :  the  first  seems  (in  Mr.  Primrose's  npprehen- 
I  aion)  to  writhe  and  rack  the  words  of  the  comtDondmcnl ;  the 
\  aecniid  (if  granted)  abolishelh  ourChristinn  Sabbaths.  ....^^ 

I  Thrtit  122.  For  clearing  up  of  this  ditliculty,  therefore,  and 
I  leaving  the  dispnto  of  the  change  of  iheSnbb:ilh  to  its  proper  place, 
[  it  may  be  made  good,  that  not  that  seventh  day  from  the  crea- 
f  tion.  so  much  as  a  seventh  day  whicli  God  shall  determine,  (and 
f  tlicrcfore  called  the  seventh  day.)  is  primarily  moral,  and  therc- 
\  fere  enjoined  in  thi^  commandment ;  for  which  end  let  these  tiling 
L  be  considered  and  laid  together,  -" 

.  Because  the  express  words  of  the  commandment  do  not 

\  nn  tlius,  viz.,  "  Remember  to  keep  holy  that  seventh  day,"  but 

rre  generally,  "  the  Sabbath  day ;  "  it  is  in  the  beginning,  and  so 

^  in  the  end  of  this  commandment,  where  it  is  not  suid,  that 

I  iGiod  blessed  that  seventh  day,  bnt  the  Sabbath  day  ;  by  whiuh 

Fcxpression  the  wisdom  of  God.  as  it  points  to  that  particular  scv- 

ftvnth  day,  that  it  should  be  sanctified,  so  it  also  opens  a  door  of 

■liberty  for  change,  if  God  Hball  see  meet,  because  the  substance 

if  the  commandnient  doth  not  only  contain  that  seventh  day,  but 

G  Sabbath  day,  which  may  be  upon  another  seventh,  as  well  as 

Upon  that  which  God  appointed  first ;  and  that  the  substance  of 

WOx  command  is  contained  in  those  tir^t  words,  "  Remember  tlie 

■  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,"  may  appear  from  the  repetition  of 
^llic  same  commandment.  (Deul.  v.  12,)  where  these  words,  "As 

■  '<bc  Lord  thy  GimI  commanded  thee,"  are  immediately  inserted 
f  beforr  the  rest  of  the  words  of  the  commandment  be  set  down, 

a  eltow  thus  much,  that  therein  is  contained  the  sub^itance  of 
I  the  fuitrtb  eomauind ;  the  words  following  being  added  only  to 
1  preM  to  the  duly,  and  to  point  out  the  particular  day,  which  at  that 
I  tim«  God  would  have  ihcm  to  observe, 

2.  Bomuse  in  the  explication  of  tfiose  words  (the  Sabbath)  it 
f  b  not  cnlird  "  lliut  seventh,"  but  "  the  seventh,"  for  io  the  words 
"  Six  days  »hatl  thou  labor,  but  iht;  seventh  ilay  is  the  Sab- 
1  bftth  of  the  Lord  thy  God."  th«  meaning  of  which  is  thisrouch,  to 
r  vit,  that  man  taking  six  days  to  himitelf  for  labor,  that  he  leave 
Ihe  sevcnih  to  be  the  Lord's.  Now,  unless  any  can  show 
J  Uint  no  other  day  but  that  sevenih  could  be  the  seventh  for  rest, 
L  Aor  no  other  six  days  but  those  six  going  before  thai  aeveuih  could 


OF   THE   SABBATH. 


be  llie  six  days  for  labor,  ihey  can  never  prove  that  iLia  fourlli 
commandment  haiK  only  a  respect  to  that  particular  seventh,  and 
it  b  no  email  boldness  neceasurilj  lo  limit  where  God  halL  left 
tree  ;  for  we  know  that,  if  God  will,  man  may  take  other  six  days 
for  labor,  and  leave  another  seventh  for  God,  than  those  six 
days  and  thai  seventh  day  only.^ 

3,  The  change  of  the  Sabbslh  undeniably  proves  thus  much, 
(if  it  can  be  proved.)  that  the  morality  of  this  command  did  not 
lie  in  that  particular  day  only ;  for  if  that  only  was  moral,  how 
eould  it  be  changed  ?  and  if  it  did  nol  lie  only  in  that  seventh, 
wherein  then  did  it  more  generally  lie?  Was  it  in  a  day  more 
largely,  or  in  a  seventh  day  more  narrowly  ?  Now,  let  any  indiffer- 
ent conscience  be  herein  Judge,  who  they  be  that  come  nearest 
lo  the  truth,  whether  they  that  fly  so  far  from  the  name  seventh, 
which  is  expressly  mentioned  in  the  commandment,  or  ihey  that 
come  as  near  it  es  may  be ;  whether  they  that  plead  for  a  sev- 
enlii  of  God's  appointing,  or  they  that  plead  for  a  day  (but  God 
knows  when)  of  human  institution.  And  it  is  worth  consid- 
ering why  any  should  be  offended  at  the  placing  of  the  morality 
oflhecomtnHndin  a  seventh,  more  than  at  their  own  placing  of  it 
in  a  day  ;  for  in  urging  the  letter  of  the  commandment  to  that 
particular  seventh,  to  abolish  thereby  the  morality  of  a  seventh 
day,  lUey  do  withal  therein  utterly  abandon  the  morality  of  a  day  ; 
for  if  that  seventh  only  be  enjoined  in  the  letter  of  the  com- 
mandment, and  they  will  thence  infer  that  a  seventh  therefore 
can  not  be  required,  how  can  llicy,  upOQ  (bis  ground,  draw  out 
the  morality  of  a  day  ? 

4.  Because  (we  know)  that  ratio  Ugi»  ut  amnut  Ugit,  \.  e.,  the 
reason  of  a  law  is  the  soul  and  life  of  the  law.  Now,  let  it  be 
considered  why  God  should  appoint  the  sevenih.  rather  ihan  iho 
ninth,  or  tenth,  or  twentieth  day,  for  spiritual  rest ;  and  the  rea- 
son will  appear  not  to  be  God's  absolute  will  merely,  but  because 

.  divine  wisdom  having  just  measures  and  balances  in  its  hand,  in 

I  pra|>ortioning  lime  between  God  and  man,  it  saw  a  seventh  part 

of  lime  (rather  than  a  tenth  or  twentieth)  lo  be  most  equal  for 

himself  to  lake,  and  tor  man  to  give  :  and  thus  much  the  words 

of  the  commandment  imply,  viz.,  that  it  is  most  equal  if  man 

hath  six,  that  God  should  have  the  seventh :  now,  if  this  be  the 

reason  of  the  law,  this  must  needs  be  the  soul  and  substance  of 

I    the  morality  of  the  law.  viz.,  that  a  seventh  day  be  given  lo  God, 

'^tnan  having  six,  and  therefore  it  consists  not  in  thatseventli  day 

only ;  tor  the  primary  reason  why  God  appointed  this  or  that 

seventh  was  not  because   it  was  that  seventh,  but  because  a 

sevenih  was  now  equal  in  the  eye  of  God  for  God  to  take  to 


f  HE  KOUALirr   ( 


THE   BASBATB. 


nseir.  n 


ri  lia 


i.togeilier  for  liimst-lf;  iu\A  because  n 


5  Ihe  full  and  fitlcst  proporlicin  of  six  days 


-ijlli  1 


s  ihp  finest  pro- 


portion of  time  for  God,  he^l^e  this  or  thnt  iii<liviUiial  and  )iur- 

ticular  seventh  in  the  second  place  fall  out  to  he  moral,  bei'nuse 

they  contain  the  most  equal  and  lillesi  proportion  of  a  seventh 

^  day  in  tht^ni ;  there  was  also  another  reueon  why  that  ««venlh 

1  sanctified,   viz.,  God'a  rest  in  it;   but  this  reason  is    not 

Hmary,  na  hath  been  said,  and  of  which  now  we  tipeak. 

',  Because,  if  no  other  commandment  be  in  the  decalo^i'e 

)  comprehensive,  and  looking  many  ways  at  unce,  why 

ro  then  pinion  and  gird  up  this  only  lo  the  narrow  cum- 

«  of  that  seventh  day  only  ? 

6,  Because  our  adversaries  in  this  jtoint  are  forced  somelimcB 
'  lo  acknowledge  thin  morality  of  a  seventh  with  us :  we  have  hearil 
the  judgment  of  Gomsrus  hi-rein,  (Thesis  44,)  nnd  M.  Priin- 
nK«,  wlio  speaks  with  most  weight  and  spirit  in  this  controversy, 
profe«^elh  phkinly,  that  if  God  give  us  «ix  days  for  our  own  af- 
fairs, there  is  then  good  rca.4on  to  consecrate  a  ^eventh  lo  his 
service,  and  that  in  this  rcai^on  there  is  manilest  jusliiMS  and 
equity,  which  abideth  forever,  to  dedicate  to  God  precisely  a 
seventh  day  after  we  have  bestowed  sin  days  upon  ourst:lves.     It 
ran  not  be  denied  (soilh  he)  but  that  it  is  most  jusL   Now,  if  it  he 
by  his  coo^siun,  1,  just,  *2,  most  just,  H,  manifestly  jnal,  4.  per- 
petually Just.  10  give  God  precisely  one  day  in  seven,  the  ciiu^c  . 
is  Ihen  yielded:  ihe  only  evatuon  ho  mitkcs  is  this,  v it.,  that 
^ylhough  it  be  most  just  lo  givt-  God  one  day  in  seven,  yet  it  is 
^^fat  more  just  ihon  to  ptvc  God  one  in  six,  or  five,  or  four,  thrru  - 
Hpting  mi  natural  justice  in  the  number  of  seven  mort-  than  in 
B^lw  nnrobcr  of  six  or  four :  but  the  answer  is  easy,  that  if  man 
may  give  unio  God  superaiitiously  loo  niany,  or  profanely  loo  few, 
and  if  iho  appointment  of  God  halh  declared  ilsclf  for  a  seventh, 
and  that  the  giving  of  llii.'  seventh  be  most  just  and  Brjiial,  then 
let   it   be  considered  whether  it  be   not   most  salisliurlory  l»  a 
scrupling  conscience  lo  allow  Goil  a  scvcnih  day  which  hi:  halh 
appuinivd.  which  is  confessed  lo  bo  most  just  and  perpeinully 
«i)iial,  and  consequently  moral;  and  if  there  be  a  moral  and 
^yorpctuiU  equity  to  give  God  one  day  in  seven,  then  it  is  no 
HlMtller  wlicther  tlicre  be  any  more   natural   equity  ibcrein   ihun 
Hb  one  in  livti  or  six.     Thi:  dUputers  tif  this  world  may  pic-use 
^^hein««lvea  wiih  such  speculations  and  shifts,  hut  the  wisdom  of 
God,  which  hall)  already  ap|K)inied  one  diiy  in  seven  rather  than 
ill  tix  or  ten.  should  bi-  adored  herein,  by  humble  minds,  in  cut- 
ting out  this  proportion  of  time,  with  far  greater  equity  thus 
man  can  now  readily  see. 
U.  12*  ^ 


I 


7.  Because  deep  corruplioti  is  (lie  groiin'l  of  this  opinion,  the 
plucking  up  of  Gud'd  bounds  and  landiimrks  of  a  seventh  is  to 
put  the  etakes  into  the  church's  hands,  to  set  them  wticre  she 
pleaseth;  or  if  she  set  them  at  e  seventh,  where  God  would  have 
them,  yet  that  this  may  be  submitted  to,  not  because  God  pleas- 
eth,  but  because  the  church  so  pleaseth  ;  not  because  of  God's 
will  and  determination,  but  because  of  the  church's  will  and  de- 
termination, that  so,  it  being  once  granted  lliat  the  church  hath 
liberty  to  determine  of  sueh  a  day.  she  may  not  be  denied  liberty 
of  making  any  other  holidays,  or  holy  things  in  the  worship  and 
service  of  God  ;  and  tliat  this  is  the  main  scope  and  root  of  this 
opinion,  is  palpably  evident  from  most  of  the  writings  of  our 
English  adversaries  iu  this  conti'over^y.  ' 

Hitsit  123.  A  seventh  day,  therefore, is  primarily  moral;  yet 
(us  was  formerly  said.  Thesis  46)  there  is  something  else  in  thb 
commandment  which  is  secondarily  moral,  viK.,  this  or  that  par- 
ticular seventh  day.  1  will  not  say  that  it  is  accidentally  moral, 
(as  some  do,)  Jiut  rather  secondarily,  and  eonsequeiitly  moral. 
For  it  is  not  moral  firstly,  because  it  is  this  particular  seventh, 
but  because  it  has  a  seventh  part  of  lime,  divinely  proportioned 
and  appointed  for  rest,  falling  into  ii,  and  of  which  it  partici|>ates. 
To  give  alms  to  the  needy  is  a  moral  duty,  and  primurlly  moral ; 
but  to  give  this  or  that  quantity  may  be  moral  also;  but  it  is 
secondarily  moral,  because  it  flows  ex  emuequenti,  only  from  thu 
first;  for  if  we  are  to  give  alms  according  to  ^ur  ability  and 
others'  necessity,  then  this  or  that  particular  quantity  thus  suiting 
their  necessity  must  be  given,  which  is  also  a  moml  duty  ;  so  it 
u  in  this  point  of  the  Sabbath.^ 

T^eti*  124.  Hence  it  follows  that  litis  commandment  enjoins 
two  things  :  1.  More  generally,  a  seventh.  2.  More  particu- 
krly,  this  or  that  seventh,  and  in  special  that  seventh  from  the 
creation,  this  or  that  seventh  are  to  be  kept  holy  because  of  a 
seventh  part  of  time  appointed  falling  into  them.  A  seventh 
day  also  is  to  be  kept  holy  by  virtue  of  the  commandment ;  yet 
not  in  general,  but  with  special  eye  and  respect  to  that  pariic- 
nlar  seventh,  wherein  this  general  is  involved  and  preserved. 
That  seventh  from  the  creation  is  commanded,  because  of  a 
seventh  falling  into  it;  and  a  seventh  also  is  commanded,  yet 
with  a  special  eye  to  that  seventh  wherein  it  is  involved.  And 
tlierefore  it  is  a  vain  objection  to  atfirm,  that  if  a  seventh  be 
commanded,  that  then  no  particular  seventh  is ;  or  if  any  partic- 
ular seventh  be  so,  that  then  a  seventh  is  not ;  for  the  command- 
ment, we  see,  hath  respect  to  both  ;  for  wlat  is  there  more  fre- 
qnent  in  Scripture  than  tor  general  duties  to  be  wrapped  tip  and 


THE  HOSALITr  Of  1 


139 


Kt  forth  in  some  particular  things,  instances,  and  examples,  and 
consequently  boih  commnnded  together  ?  And  after  narrow 
search  into  this  I'ommandment,  we  shall  find  both  the  general 
and  particular  seventh,  not  only  inferring  one  the  other,  but  both 
of  thein  in  a  manner  expressly  mentioned. 

Tlietit  125.  When  those  that  plead  for  the  morality  of  the 
fourth  uoutmuad,  in  respect  of  a  seventh  day,  would  prove  it  to 
be  moral,  because  it  is  part  of  the  decalogue  and  set  in  the 
heart  of  it,  with  a  special  note  of  remeiubrance  affixed  to  it,  etc., 
Mr.  Ironside  and  others  do  usually  dash  all  such  reasonings  out 
of  countenance,  with  this  answer,  viz.,  that  by  this  argument. 
That  particular  seventh  from  the  creation  is  moral,  which  we 
see  is  changed  ;  for  (say  they)  that  also  is  set  in  the  heart  of  Uie 
decalogue,  with  a  special  note  of  remembrance  also.  But  the 
reply  from  what  hath  been  said  is  easy,  viz^  that  that  also  ia 
indeed  moral,  only  it  is  secondarily  moral,  not  primarily ;  and 
therefore  (us  we  have  shown)  was  mutable  and  changeable,  the 
primary  morality  in  a  seventh  immutably  remaining ;  the  moral 
duty  of  observing  a  seventh  day  is  not  chiuiged,  but  only  the 
day.  If  Mr.  Primrose  could  prove  thai  there  is  nothing  else 
commanded  in  this  fourth  command,  but  only  that  particular 
seventh  from  the  creation,  he  had  then  enough  to  show  that  (this 
day  being  justly  changed)  the  commandment  is  not  moral  or  per- 
petual ;  but  out  of  this  particular  seventh  which  is  now  changed, 
himsell'  acknowledgeth  that  out  of  it  may  be  gathered  the  moral- 
ity of  a  day ;  and  why  not  of  the  seventh  day  also,  as  well  as  of  a 
day?  He  saitb  that  it  is  a  bold  assertion  lo  say  that  this  genus 
of  a  seventh  is  herein  commanded.  But  why  is  it  not  as  bold  to 
affirm  the  same  of  a  day  ?  For  out  of  that  par^culor  seventh 
whence  he  would  raise  the  genus  of  a  day,  we  may  as  easily,  and 
far  more  ratiDnally,  collect  the  genus  of  a  seventh  day. 

Thrti*  12tl.  Nur  will  it  follow  that  because  a  seventh  is 
ntoml.  thai  thereforu  tiny  one  of  the  seven  days  in  a  week  may 
be  madi'  a  Christian  Sabbath.  For,  1.  We  do  not  say  that  it  is 
any  seventh,  but  a  seventh  determined  and  appomteil  of  God  for 
holy  rest,  which  is  herein  commanded.  2.  The  Lord  hath  in  wis* 
dum  appointed  such  a  seventh  as  that  man  may  have  six  whole 
days  together  to  labor  in:  and  hence  it  follows  that  divine  detenni- 
nalion,  without  crossing  that  wisdom,  could  not  possibly  full  upon 
any  other  days  in  the  cycle  of  seven,  but  either  upon  the  last 
of  seven,  which  was  the  Jewish,  or  the  first  of  seven,  which  now 
is  (as  shall  be  sliown)  tlie  Christian  Sabbath.  3.  As  God  hath 
appointed  one  day  in  seven  for  man's  rest,  so  in  his  wisdom  he 
nlen  it  «  thai  U  iball  be  also  a  day  of  God's  rest,  and  tlta| 


I 


I 


140  THE   llonALITT   OF   TUB   SABBATH. 

is  not  to  be  found  in  any  d&j  of  the  vreeii  but  eitbcr  in  tlie  last 
of  seven,  wherein  the  Father  resieH,  or  in  the  first  of  seven, 
wherein  the  Sou  rested  from  his  work  bIso.^ 

3K«n(  127.  It  ia  true  thnt  the  Siibbuth  dajniid  Umt  seventh 
day  from  the  creation  lire  indifferently  taken,  sometimes  the  one 
for  the  other,  the  one  being  the  exegesis,  or  (lie  explication  of 
the  other,  as  Gun.  ii.  2,  3,  Exod.  xvi.  29,  and  elsewhere;  but 
that  it  should  be  only  so  understood  in  this  eoinniandment, 
Gndat  Judeus Apella,  turn  ego,  us  be  said  in  another  case.  I  see 
no  convicCiug  ai'gunient  to  clip  ihe  winga  of  the  Scrijiture  so 
ehort,  and  lo  make  the  Snbbnth  day  and  that  seventh  day  of 
equal  dimensions ;  aUbough  it  can  not  be  denied  but  thut  in 
some  sense  the  Siibbath  day  is  exegelical  of  the  seventh  day, 
because  the  commandment  haih  a  special  eye  to  that  seventh 
from  the  creation,  which  is  secondarily  moral,  yet  not  exclud- 
ing that  which  is  more  generally  contained  in  that  parlieular, 
and  consequently  commanded,  viz.,  a  seventh  day,  or  the  Sab- 
bath day. 

Thttii  128.  Mr.  Primrose  would  prove  the  exegesis,  that 
by  the  Sabbath  day  is  meant  lliut  seventh  day  only  from  the 
creation,  because  God  actually  blessed  and  sanctified  thnt  Sab- 
bath day,  because  God  can  not  actually  bless  a  seventh,  being  an 
unlimited,  indefinite,  and  uncertain,  indeterniined  time.  The  time 
(saith  he)  only  wherein  he  resied,  lie  only  aclually  blessed,  whicli 
waa  not  in  a  seventh  day  indelennined,  but  in  that  delermined 
Mvenlh  day.  But  all  this  may  be  readily  acknowledged,  and 
yet  the  truth  remain  Arm ;  for  that  parlieular  seventh  being 
secondarily  moral,  hence,  as  it  was  expressly  commanded,  so  it  was 
actually  and  particularly  blessed :  but  ns  in  this  seventh  a  general 
of  a  seventh  is  included,  so  a  seventh  is  also  generally  blessed 
and  sanctified.  Otherwise  how  will  Mr.  Primrose  maintain  the 
morality  of  a  day  of  worship  out  of  this  commandment?  For 
the  same  objection  may  be  made  against  a  duy  which  himself  ac- 
knowledgeth.  as  against  a  seventh  day  which  we  maintain  ;  for  it 
may  he  said,  that  that  day  is  here  only  moral,  wherein  God  aciu- 
atly  rested,  but  he  did  not  rust  in  a  day  indefinitely,  and  there- 
fore a  day  is  not  moral :  let  him  unloose  this  knot,  and  his  answer 
in  defense  of  the  monililyof  aday  will  helphim  tosee  the  momliiy 
"Of  a  Bovenih  also.  Thai  particular  day,  indeed,  wherein  iioA 
actually  and  particularly  rested,  he  particularly  blesseil;  but  there 
was  a  seventh  day  also  more  general,  which  he  generHlly  blessvd 
also-  He  generally  blessed  the  Siibbaih  daj-,  he  panicularly 
blessed  that  -Sabbmh  day,  and  in  blessing  of  that  he  did  virtually 
mid  by  analogy  bless  our  particular  Christian  Sabbath  also,  which 


I 


I 


\r-    THE    SABBATH, 

wfta  to  come.  As  JfoMS,  in  h'xa  nclual  blessing  of  the  tribe  of 
Levi,  (D«ut.  xxxiii.  7, 10.)  he  did  virtually  and  by  analogy  blesa 
all  the  minislers  of  ihe  goiip«l  not  then  in  being.  And  look,  as 
when  God  coiamanded  them  to  keep  holy  the  Sttbbath  in  ceremo- 
nial duties,  he  did  therein  virtually  command  us  lo  keep  it*lioly 
in  evangelical  duties  ;  so  when  be  commanded  tbem  to  obsei've 
that  day,  bet^^ause  it  was  actually  appointed,  and  sanclified,  and 
blessed  of  God,  he  commanded  us  virtually  and  analogically 
therein  to  observe  our  seventh  day  also,  if  ever  he  should  actually 
appoint  and  bless  this  other. 

T/tetit  lis.  The  distribution  of  equity  and  justice  conaiaU 
not  always  in  puHcIo  indtvitilnli,  i.  e.,  in  an  indivisible  point  and 
a  set  measure  ;  so  as  that  if  more  or  less  be  done  or  given  in 
way  of  justice,  that  then  the  rule  of  justice  is  thereby  brokeu  ; 
«s.  gr,  it  ia  just  to  give  alms  and  pay  tribute ;  yet  not  so  just  aa 
that  if  iDea  give  more  or  less,  that  then  they  break  a  rule  of 
justice ;  so  it  is  in  this  point  of  the  Sabbath  ;  a  seventh  part  of 
lime  it  moral,  because  it  is  jnst  and  equal  for  all  men  to  give 
unto  God,  who  have  sii  for  one  given  tliem  to  serve  their  own 
turn,  and  do  their  own  work  in ;  yet  it  is  not  so  juet  but  that  if 
God  bad  required  the  tribute  of  a  third  or  fourtL  part  of  our 
time,  but  it  might  have  been  just  also  (o  have  given  him  one  day 
in  three,  or  two,  or  four ;  for  in  ihia  case  positive  determination 
dolb  not  so  much  make  as  declare  only  that  which  is  moraL 
And  therefore,  if  Mr.  Primrose  thinks  that  a  seventh  part  of  time 
is  not  moral,  because  it  is  as  equal  and  just  to  dedicate  more  time 
to  God,  and  that  a  third  or  fourth  day  is  as  equal  as  a  seventh, 
it  is  doubtless  an  ungrounded  assertion  ;  for  so  he  afllrms,  that 
although  il  be  most  just  to  give  God  one  day  in  seven,  yet  no 
mure  just  than  lu  dedicate  lo  him  one  day  in  three  or  six.  And 
suppose  it  be  so,  yel  this  doth  not  prove  that  a  seventh  day  ia 
not  moral,  because  it  is  as  equal  to  give  six  as  seven,  no  more 
than  ihHt  it  is  no  monil  duty  lo  give  an  alms,  because  il  may  bo 
as  equal  to  give  twenty  pence  as  thirty  pence  txi  a  man  in  want. 
If,  furthermore,  he  think  that  it  is  as  equal  and  just  to  give  God 
more  days  for  his  service,  as  one  in  seven,  out  of  human  wisdom, 
and  by  bunutn  consecration,  not  divine  dedication,  then  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  one  day  in  Iwo,  or  three,  or  six,  is  as  equal 
as  one  day  in  seven  ;  for  as  human  wisdom,  if  lef\  to  itself,  may 
readily  pve  too  few,  so  it  may  superstitiously  give  too  many,  (us 
hath  been  said.)  But  if  four,  or  three,  or  six  be  alike  equal 
in  themselves  to  give  lo  God,  as  one  in  seven,  then  if  ho  thinks 
il  a  moral  duty  lo  observe  any  such  day  in  case  il  should  be  im- 
posed and  consecrated  by  human  determination,  I  hope  he  will 


< 


I 


not  be  oHendeil  iit  us  if  we  lliuik  it  a  moral  iluty  nl^o  to  ofi- 
B«'ve  a  seventh  Jny,  wbii'h  we  are  certain  dirine  wisdom  hiilh 
judged  most  eijual,  and  which  is  imposed  on  us  by  Jtvinc  deterioi- 
nalion ;  we  may  be  uiieerltiiii  ivheilier  tlie  one  is  as  eqiiul,  as  we 
art  eei'tain  that  &  seventh  dny  is, 

T/iesit  130.  Actions  of  worsliip  can  no  moi'p  be  imagined  lo 
be  do]io  without  some  lime,  tlian  a  body  be  wittioul  Eonie  plHire ; 
and  ihereforo  in  ihe  three  first  eommandmenta,  where  Goil's  wor- 
ship is  enjoined,  some  time  logetlier  with  it  is  nece.searily  com- 
manded ;  if,  thensfore,  any  time  for  worship  be  required  in  llie 
fourlU  command,  (which  none  can  deny,)  it  must  not  l*e  aunh  n 
time  as  ie  connatural,  and  which  is  necexsnrily  tied  to  llie  action ; 
but  it  must  be  some  solemn  and  special  time,  which  depends  upon 
some  special  determination,  not  which  nature,  but  wliicli  counsel, 
determines.  Dc I ermi nation,  therefore,  by  conn^l  of  that  lime 
which  is  required  in  ibis  command,  dolh  not  alwli^h  the  morality 
of  il,  but  rather  declares  and  establisheth  it.  God,  therefore,  wlio 
is  Lord  of  time,  may  justly  cbuUenge  the  determination  of  this 
Ijine  into  liis  own  luind.  und  not  infringe  the  morality  of  Ibis  com- 
mand, considering  also  ibat  be  ia  more  able  and  fit  limn  men  or 
angels  lo  see,  and  so  cut  out  Ihe  most  equnl  proportion  of  time 
between  man  and  himself.  God  tlierefore  hatb  sei|uegicred  a  m-v- 
enih  pftrt  of  time  to  be  sanctilied,  rather  than  a  litth,  a  fourth,  or 
a  ninth,  not  simply  because  it  was  this  seventh,  or  a  sevenlli,  but 
because,  in  his  wise  determination  thereof,  he  knew  it  to  be  ibo 


most  just  and  equal  di 
and  therefore  I  know  nc 
seen  one  day  in  three,  o 
tion  of  time  as  one  day 
free  to  man  to  lake  and 
(the  Spirit  of  God  not 


four,  c 


n  of  time  between  man  and  bimsirif ; 
ingruily  to  afRnn,  that  if  God  hiid 
ir  nine,  lo  be  as  equal  a  propor- 
1.  that  he  would  then  bave  left  it 
either  the  one  or  the  olbcr, 
9ually  restraining  where  there  is  a  lib- 
erty ;)  and  on  the  other  side,  if  be  had  seen  a  third,  or  fifth,  or 
ninth,  or  twunlieth  part  of  lime  more  equul  than  a  sevemli,  ho 
would  have  fixed  the  bounds  of  labor  and  rest  out  of  a  seventh ; 
but  Laving  now  fixed  them  lo  a  seventh,  a  sevenih  day  is  therefore 
moral,  rather  than  a  fourth,  or  sixth,  or  nintli  day,  beeitngc  it  is 
the  most  equal  and  fittest  proportion  of  time  (all  things  consid- 
ered) between  God  and  man;  ihti  appointment  therefore  of  r 
seventh,  ntther  thim  a  sixth  or  fburtli,  is  not  an  act  of  God's 
mSE^wULiinl/.  (as  our  advei'Siiries  affirm,  and  therefore  they 
thinirit5nt-i«2!ji!')  '^'"  ■'  *"*  ^"^  '^  *"  '*"^  "'  ''■*  "isdom  also, 
according  lo  a  moral  rule  of  justice,  viz..  Id  give  unto  God  that 
which  b  roost  fit,  most  just,  and  most  equal ;  and  therefore, 
although  there  is  no^ftturajjuslice  (as  Mr.  Primrose  calls  it)  in 


THE  MORALITY  OF   THE   SABBATH.  143 


_  I  seventh,  Simp] J  wiil  abalniclly  considered,  rntlier  than  in  a 
rixth  or  tenlh,  yet  if  tlie  most  equal  proportion  of  time  for  God 
be  lotted  out  in  a  seventh,  there  is  then  eomelhing  natural  and 
niorul  in  it  rather  than  in  any  other  partition  of  time,  vie.,  to 
give  God  ihni  proportion  of  time  which  h  most  just  and  most 
C(]ual ;  and  in  this  respect  a  seventh  part  of  time  is  commanded, ij 
becauiie  it  is  goo<l,  (according  to  the  deecripiion  of  a  moral  law,)V 
•ad  not  only  goodbecansi-  it  ia  HimmanHpil.  1^ 

Thttit  131.  '  it  ia  true  that  in  private  duties  of  worship,  aa 
to  reitd  (he  Scriptun^,  meditate,  pray,  etc.,  the  time  for  these 
and  the  like  duties  is  tell  to  the  will  and  determination  of  man, 
according  to  general  rules  of  conveniencj  and  sea&onableness  eel 
down  in  the  word ;  tnno's  will  (in  this  sense)  is  the  measure  of  ' 
such  limes  of  worship  ;  but  there  is  not  tlie  like  reason  here,  in 
det«nnining  time  for  a  Sabbath,  as  if  that  should  be  left  to  man's 
liheriy  al^o.  because  those  private  duties  are  to  be  done  in  that 
time  which  is  necessarily  annexed  to  the  duties  themselves, 
which  time  is  therefore  there  commanded,  where  and  when  the 
duly  is  commanded  ;  but  the  lime  for  a  Sabbath  is  not  such  a  time 
ma  naturally  will  and  most  attend  the  action,  but  it  is  such  a  time 
■s  cflunMl  (not  nature)  sees  most  meet,  and  especially  that  coun- 
tl  which  is  most  able  lo  moke  the  most  equal  proportions  of  lime, 
lilfch  we  know  is  not  in  the  liberty  or  ability  of  men  or  angels. 
It  of  God  himself;  for  do  but  once  imagine  a  time  requited 
It  of  the  limits  of  what  naturally  attends  the  action,  and  it  will 
a  found  necessarily  to  be  a  lime  determined  by  counsel ;  and 
Wrefurc  our  adversaries  should  not  think  it  as  free  for  man  lo 
Mnge  the  Sabbath  seasons  from  the  seventh  to  the  Stlh,  or 
tenih  day,  etc.  as  to  alter  and  pick  our  times  for  pri* 

'  7K*m  IS'i.  There  is  a  double  reason  of  proposing  God's 
auunple  in  the  fburih  command,  as  is  evident  from  the  com- 
"  mandmeni  itself :  thefirct  waste  persuade,  the  second  was  to  direct. 
I.  To  persuade  man  so  lo  labor  sin  days  together,  as  to  give  the 
seventh,  or  a  seventh  appointed  for  holy  rest,  unto  God ;  for  so 
■he  example  speaks  —  God  labored  six  days,  and  rested  the  sev- 
enth ;  therefore  do  ye  the  like.  2.  To  direct  the  people  of  God 
to  that  particular  seventh,  which,  for  that  time  when  the  law  was 
given,  God  would  have  them  then  to  ol>serve,  and  that  was  that 
seventh  which  did  succeed  the  sii  days'  labor:  and  therefore  for 

Pio  make  God's  example  of  rest  on  that  seventh  day  an  argu- 
t  (hat  God  commanded  the  observation  of  that  seventh  day 
.  is  a  groundless  assertion ;  for  (here  was  something  more  gen- 
y  aimed  at  by  setting  forili  this  example,  viE.,to  persuade  m^i 


4 


i 


hereby  to  labor  ei\  dajs,  and  give  God  the  seventh,  wbicb  be 
ehould  appoint,  as  well  as  to  direct  to  that  particular  daj,  which 
for  that  time  (it  is  granted)  it  also  poinicd  utilo ;  and  therefore  let 
the  words  in  the  commandment  be  observed,  and  we  shall  Snd 
man's  duty,  1,  more  generally  set  down,  viz^  to  labor  six  days, 
and  dedicate  the  seventh  unio  God  ;  and  then  followii  God's  per- 
suasion  hereunto  from  bis  owi)  example,  who  when  he  bad  a  world 
to  make,  and  work  to  do,  he  did  labor  six  daj's  together,  and 
rested  the  seventh  ;  and  thus  a  man  is  boand  to  do  still :  but  it 
doth  not  follow  that  he  must  rest  that  particular  seventh  only, 
on  wbicb  God  then  rested ;  or  that  that  seventh  (though  we 
grant  it  was  pointed  unto)  was  only  aimed  at  in  this  example  : 
the  binding  power  of  all  examples  whatsoever  (and  therefore  of 
this)  being  ad  speciem  aetua,  (as  they  call  it,)  to  that  kind  of  act, 
and  not  to  the  individuian  actimiii  only,  or  to  every  particular  ac- 
eidental  circumstance  therein ;  if,  indeed,  man  was  to  labor  six 
days  in  memorial  only  of  the  six  days  of  creation,  and  to  rest  a 
■eventh  day  in  memorial  only  of  God's  rest  and  cessation  from 
creation,  it  might  then  carry  a  fair  face,  as  if  this  example 
pointed  at  the  observation  of  that  particular  seventh  only ; 
but  look,  as  our  six  days'  labor  is  appointed  for  other  and  higher 
ends  than  to  remember  the  six  days'  work  of  God,  it  being  u 
moral  duty  to  attend  our  callings  therein,  so  the  seventh  day 
of  rest  is  appointed  for  higher  and  larger  ends  (as  Didoclavius 
observes)  than  only  to  remember  that  notable  rest  of  God  from 
all  bis  works,  it  being  a  moral  duty  to  rest  the  seventh  day  in  all 
holiness. 

Theiis  133.  It  wa&  but  accidental,  and  not  of  the  essence  of 
the  Sabbath  day,  that  that  particular  seventh  from  the  creation 
should  be  the  Sabbath  ;  for  the  seventh  day  Sabbath  being  to  be 
man's  rest  day,  it  was  therefore  suitable  to  God's  wisdom  to  give 
man  an  example  of  rest  from  himself,  to  encourage  him  there- 
unto, (for  we  know  how  strongly  examples  persuaide  :)  now,  rest 
being  a  cessation  from  labor,  it  therefore  supposes  labor  to  go 
before  ;  hence  God  could  not  appoint  the  first  day  of  the  crea- 
tion to  be  the  Sabbath,  because  he  did  then  but  begin  his  labor ; 
nor  could  he  take  any  the  other  days,  because  in  them  he  had  not 
finished  his  work,  nor  rested  from  his  labor  ;  therefore  God's  rest 
fell  out  upon  the  last  of  seven  succeeding  six  of  labor  before  ;  so 
^  that  if  there  could  have  been  any  other  day  as  fit  then  for  exem- 
plary rest  as  this,  and  rs  afterward  it  fell  out  in  the  finishing  of 
the  work  of  redemption,  it  might  have  been  as  well  upon  such  a 
day  as  this  ;  but  it  was  not  then  so :  and  benc«  the  r^sl  day  fell, 
M  it  were,  accidentally  upon  this :  and  hence  it  is  that  God's 


THE   JIORALITY   OF   TH^  GADUATU.  145 

example  of  rest  on  tliat  particular  day  doih  not  necessarily  bind 
US  to  observe  ilie  same  scventli  day ;  moral  examples  not  always 
binding  in  iheir  accidentals,  (as  the  cafe  is  here,)  although  it  be 
true  that  in  tlieir  csseatials  tbey  always  do. 

Thetit  13-1.  There  is  no  strength  in  that  reason,  [hnt  because 
one  day  in  seven  is  to  be  consecrated  unto  God,  that  therefore 
one  year  in  ^even  is  to  be  so  also,  as  of  old  it  was  among  the 
Jews;  for  beside  what  hath  been  said  formerly,  viz.,  that  one 
year  in  seven  was  merely  ceremonial,  one  day  in  seven  is  not  so, 
(saith  Wallffius.)  but  moral;  God  gave  no  example  (whose  ex- 
ample is  only  in  moral  things)  of  resting  one  year  in  seven,  but 
lie  did  of  resting  out  day  in  seven.  I  say,  beside  all  this,  it  is 
observable  what  Junius  nolc«<  herein.  The  Lonl  (saitb  he)  chal- 
lcug«lL  one  day  in  seven  jure  creatxoaii,  by  right  of  creation ; 
■nd  hence  requires  it  of  «U  men  created  :  but  he  challenged  one  . 

Snr  in  «cven  jure  pemliari*  posstssionis,  i.  c.,  by  right  of  pecu- 
r  possession,  the  land  of  Canaan  being  the  Lord's  land  in  « 
peculiar  maTincr,  even  a  type  of  heaven,  which  every  other  coun- 
try  is  not ;  and  therefore  there  is  no  reason  lliat  all  men  should 
give  God  one  seventh  year,  as  they  are  to  give  him  one  seventh 
duy.  By  the  observation  of  one  day  in  seven,  (sailb  he.)  men 
profess  themselves  to  be  the  Lord's,  and  to  belong  unto  him,  who 
created  and  made  them ;  and  tins  profession  all  men  are  bound 
nnioi  but  by  observation  of  one  year  in  seven,  ibey  professed 
thereby  that  their  country  was  the  Lord's,  and  themselves  the 
Lord's  tenants  therein,  which  alt  counlfies  (not  being  types  of 
heaven)  can  not  nor  ouglil  to  do;  and  therefore  there  is  not  thfl 
like  reason  urged  to  the  observation  of  a  seventh  year  as  of  a 
sc\~enth  day. 

TJittlt  135,  Look  therefore  as  it  is  in  the  second  command- 
ment, although  the  particular  instituted  worship  is  changed  under 
the  gospel  from  wlml  it  was  under  the  law,  yet  the  general  duty 
rei|uire(l  therein  of  observing  God's  own  instituted  worship  id 
tnorul  and  unchangeable.  So  it  is  in  the  fourth  commandment, 
where  though  tlie  [tarliculnr  day  be  changed,  yet  the  duty  remains 
moral  and  unchangeable  in  observing  a  seventh  day;  there  is 
therefore  no  reason  to  imagine  that  (he  general  duty  contained 
in  this  precept  'n  not  moral,  because  the  observance  of  the  par- 
ticular day  is  mutable  ;  and  yet  tliis  is  the  fairest  color,  but  the 
pirongcsl  refuge  of  lies,  which  their  cause  hath  who  hold  a  scventb 
day  to  be  merely  eeremouial. 

TlittU  ISli.     If  it  lie  a  moral  duly  to  observe  one  day  tn 

'en,  then  the  observation  of  such  a  day  no  more  infringeth 

Cliriatian  liheriy  than  obedience  to  any  other  moral   law,  oii2_ 

VOL.  til.  13 


I 


I 


I 


I 


THE    MORALITY    OF   THE 


part  of  our  Cbriatiao  liberty  consisting  in  our  conforniily  lo  it,  as 
our  bondage  con.sists  in  being  left  to  sin  against  it ;  and  tbcrefore 
lliiit  argument  against  the  moralily  of  one  day  in  sei'en  is  very 
feelilc,  as  if  Christian  liber^  waa  hereby  infringed. 

Thexii  137.  It  was  meet  that  God  should  have  special  ser- 
vice from  nan,  and  therefore  meet  for  himself  to  appoint  a  special 
time  for  it;  nhich  time,  tliough  it  be  a  circumstance,  yet  it  is 
such  a  circumBtance  as  hatli  a  special  influence  into  any  business, 
not  only  human,  but  also  divine ;  and  therefore  if  it  be  naturally, 
it  may  be  aUo  ethically  and  morally  good,  contributing  much  also 
to  what  is  morally  good ;  and  therefore  tlie  delerminalion  of  such 
a  lime  for  length,  frequency,  and  holiness,  may  be  justly  taken  in 
among  the  moral  laws.  He  that  shall  doubt  of  such  a  powerful 
influence  of  special  time  for  the  furthering  of  what  is  specially 
good,  may  look  upon  the  art,  skill,  trade,  learning,  nay,  grace  it- 
self perhaps,  which  be  hath  got  by  the  help  of  the  improvement 
of  lime  i  a  profane  and  religious  heart  are  seen  and  accounted 
of  according  to  their  improvements  of  lime,  more  or  less,  in  holy 
things.  Time  is  not  therefore  such  a  circumstance  as  is  good 
only  because  coramanded,  (as  the  place  of  the  temple  was,)  but  it 
is  commanded  because  it  is  good,  because  time,  nay,  much  time, 
reiterated  in  a  weekly  sevenili  part  of  time,  doth  much  advance 
and  set  forward  that  which  is  good. 

T%esis  138.  That  law  which  is  a  homogeneal  part  of  the 
moral  law  is  moral ;  but  the  fourth  commandment  is  such  a  part 
of  the  moral  law,  and  therefore  it  is  moral.  I  do  not  say,  that 
that  law  which  is  set  and  placed  among  the  moral  laws  in  order 
of  writing,  (as  our  adversaries  too  frequently  mistake  us  in,)  tliat 
it  is  therefore  moral ;  for  then  it  might  be  said,  as  well,  that  the 
Sabbath  is  ceremonial,  because  it  is  placed  in  order  of  writing 
among  things  ceremonial,  (Lev.  xxiii.;)  but  if  it  be  one  link  of 
the  chain,  and  an  essential  part  of  the  moral  law,  then  it  is  un- 
doubtedly moral  i  but  so  it  is,  for  its  part  of  the  decalogue,  nine 
parts  whereof  all  our  adversaries  we  now  contend  with  confess  to 
be  moral;  and  to  make  this  fourth  ceremonial,  which  God  hath 
set  in  the  heart  of  the  decalogue,  and  commanded  us  to  remem- 
ber to  keep  it  above  any  other  law,  seems  very  nnlike  to  truth 
to  a  serene  and  sober  mind,  not  disturbed  with  such  mud,  which 
usually  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  heart,  and  turns  light  into  dark- 
ness ;  and  why  one  ceremonial  precept  should  be  shufQed  in  among 
tlio  rest  which  are  of  another  tribe,  lineage,  and  language,  hath 
l>een  by  many  attempted,  but  never  soundly  cleared  unto  this 
day.  Surely  if  this  commandment  be  not  moral,  then  there  are 
but  nine  commandments  left  to  us  of  the  moral  law,  which  is 
expressly  contrary  to  God's  account,  (Dcul.  iv.) 


f 


THE  JlOR.lLJTr   OP  THE   BAIiBATH. 


147 


I 


To  alfirm  that  all  the  connnaDtla  of  the  decalogue  are  moral, 
f  et  tivery  one  in  liis  proportion  and  degreo,  and  Ibat  ibis  of  the 
Sabbatli  is  ihua  mora],  viz.,  in  respect  of  llie  purpose  aod  intent  / 
of  the  Lawgiver,  vix.,  that  some  lime  be  set  apari,  but  not  moral 
in  respect  of  the  letter  in  whicli  it  is  expressed :  it  is  in  some 
sense  formerly  explained ;  true,  but  in  Lia  gcnse  who  endeavors 
to  prove  the  Sabbitlh  ceremonial,  while  he  saith  it  is  moral,  is  ' 
Uitb  dark  and  false ;  for  if  it  be  said  to  be  moral  only  in  respect 
of  some  time  to  be  set  apart,  and  this  lime  an  indiinduum  cagum, 
an  indeterminate  time,  beyond  tbe  verges  of  a  seventh  part  of 
(■me,  then  there  is  no  more  morality  granted  to  the  fourth  com- 
laandmeol  than  lo  the  commandment  of  building  the  temple  and  ' 
observing  the  new  moons ;  because  in  God's  command  to  build 
the  temple,  ifae  general  purpose  and  intention  of  the  Lawgiver 
was,  that  some  place  be  appointed  ibr  his  public  worship,  and  in 
commanding  to  observe  new  moon^,  that  some  time  be  set  apart 
for  Lis  worship,  and  so  there  was  no  more  necessity  of  putting 
remember  to  keep  the  Sabbath  holy,  tlinn  to  remember  lo  keep 
holy  the  new  moons.  And  look,  as  [he  commandment  to  observe 
new  moon!!  can  not  in  reason  be  accounted  a  moral  command- 
ment, because  there  is  some  general  morality  in  il,  viz.,  for  to 
observe  some  time  of  worship,  so  neither  should  this  of  tlie  Sab< 
bath  be  upon  the  like  ground  of  some  general  morality  mixed  in 
il ;  and  therefore  for  Mr.  Ironside  to  say  that  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath  is  set  among  the  rest  of  the  moral  precepts,  because  it  is 
mixedly  ceremonial,  having  in  it  something  which  is  moral,  which 
othur  ceremonial  commands  (he  saith)  hare  not,  is  palpably  un- 
true ;  for  there  is  no  ceremonial  law  of  observing  Jewish  moons 
and  festivals,  but  there  was  something  generally  moral  in  them, 
vix.,  tlwt  (in  respect  of  the  purpose  and  intention  of  the  Lawgiver) 
some  lime  be  set  apart  for  God,  just  as  be  makes  this  of  keeping 
the  Sabbath. 

ThttU  139.  To  inu^ine  that  there  are  but  nine  moral  pre- 
cepts indeed,  and  that  they  are  called  ten  in  respect  of  the  greater 
part  according  to  which  things  are  usually  denominated,  is  an 
invention  of  Mr.  Primrose,  which  contains  a  pernicious  and 
poisonful  seed  of  making  way  for  the  razing  Out  of  the  decalogue 
more  laws  than  one  ;  for  the  same  answer  will  serve  the  turn  for 
cashiering  three  or  four  more,  the  greater  part  (suppose  six)  re- 
maining moral,  according  to  which  the  denomination  ariselh. 
For  although  it  be  true,  that  some  time  tlie  denomination  is 
according  to  the  greater  part,  viz.,  when  there  is  a  necessity  of 
mixing  divers  things  togi-ther,  as  in  a  heap  of  corn  witli  much 
GboB*,  or  a  butt  of  wine  where  there  be  many  lees,  yet  there  was 


V<'V>t(T1    Of    1 


18ATH. 


■  .  iMXturv  •iiJ  jumbling  tojielher  of  mnrarK 
v.     Mr.  Primrose  tetb  us  that  he  doth  not 

■  tt  iUI  ike  roinmniidmtMtts  nrc  williout  PXi^iip- 
,1.^  *"•!  therefore  whj  may  Ihere  not  (snilh  he)  be 

kl  lunMi^  tbcin  ?     But  bj  tliM  reason  he  may  as  well 

B  vtber  nuio  from  being  moral  ntso;  rcH"  I  read  not 

M  Am  any  one  of  them  is  styled  by  that  name,  moral ; 

igk  it  be  truu  which  ho  saiib,  [hat  covenants  among 

nes  logoiher  of  divers  articles,  as  also  that 

^tvvwiwrt  (taken  in  some  sense)  sometimes  did  so,  yet  the 

l«Miaiit  ot  God  made  with  all  men  (as  we  shall  prove  [he  deca- 
ft'teue  \»)  ought  no[  to  be  so  mingled,  neither  could  it  be  »)  with- 
I'  w  upparrnt  eoutradietion,  viz.,  that  here  should  be  a  covenant 
I  vbick  bindelh  all  men  in  all  things  (o  observe  it  and  yet  sotne 

rrt  of  it,  being  (ceremonial,  slioald  not  hind  all  men  in  all  things 
comraonds  \  nor  ia  iliere  indeed  any  need  of  putting  in  one 
ceremonial  law,  considering  bow  easily  they  are  and  may  be 
reduced  lo  sundry  precepts  of  the  moral  law  as  appendices  thcre-i 
of,  without  such  shuffling  as  is  contended  for  here. 

Tliesig  1 40.  If  this  law  be  not  moral,  why  is  it  crowne<l  with 
the  aiuna  honor  that  the  rest  of  the  moral  precepts  are?  If  its 
dignity  be  not  equal  with  the  real,  why  hath  it  been  exalted  so 
high  in  equal  glory  with  them  ?  Were  the  other  nine  spoken 
tmracdiateiy  by  the  voice  of  Ood  on  Monnt  Sinai,  with  great 
terror  and  majesty,  before  all  the  people  ?  Were  they  written 
upon  titbles  of  stone  with  God's  own  finger  twice  ?  Were  they 
put  into  the  ark  as  most  holy  and  sncred  ?  So  was  this  of  tho 
Sabbath  also :  why  bath  it  the  same  honor,  if  it  be  oot  of  ibe 
same  nature  with  Ibe  rest? 

'JTiesit  HI.  Our  adversaries  turn  every  stone  lo  make 
answer  to  this  known  argument,  and  they  tell  us  lliat  it  is 
disputable  and  very  r|iiestionab]e,  whether  (his  law  was  sjioken 
immediately  by  God,  and  not  rather  by  angels  ;  but  let  it  be  how 
it  will  be,  yet  [bis  law  of  the  Sabbath  was  spoken  and  written, 
and  laid  up  as  all  the  rest  were,  and  therefore  liad  the  same 
honor  as  all  the  rest  hod.  which  we  donbt  not  to  he  moral ;  and 
jut  I  think  it  easy  to  demonstrate  that  ibis  law  was  immediately 
spoken  by  God,  and  the  reasons  against  it  are  long  since  answered 
by  Junius,  on  Heb.  ii.  2,  3  ;  but  it  is  useless  here  to  enter  into 
this  controversy. 

Tresis  142.  Nor  do  I  say  that  because  the  law  was  spoken 
by  God  immediately,  ibat  therefore  it  is  moral ;  for  he  spiiko 
with  Abraham,  Job,  Muses  in  the  mount,  immediately  alioiit  other 
matters  than  moral  laws  ;  but  because  he  thus  spake,  and  in  bucI) 


i 


^ 


THE   MORALITY    OF  THE   S.inBlTH.  H9 

a  mnnner,  oi^dI;,  and  to  nil  Llie  people,  young  nnti  old,  Jews  and 
proselyte  Gentiles,  ilieii  present,  with  such  great  glory,  and  ter- 
ror, and  nwijesly,  surely  it  stands  not  (saitk  holy  Brigbtman) 
with  lite  majesty  of  tlie  universal  Lord,  who  is  God  not  only  of 
the  Jews,  but  also  of  the  Gentiles,  speaking  thus  openly,  (not 
privately,)  and  gloriously,  and  most  immediately,  to  prescribe  laws 
to  one  people  only,  which  were  emull  in  number,  but  wherewith 
alt  nations  alike  should  be  governed.  Mr.  Ironside  indeed  thinks 
that  the  Lord  had  gone  un  to  have  delivered  all  the  other 
ceremonials  in  the  like  manner  of  fBIPfrora  the  mount,  but 
tluU  the  fear  and  cry  of  the  peo[A^lJiat  he  would  speak  no 
more  to  them)  slopped  him;  but  the  oontrary  ismust  evident,  vix., 
that,  before  the  people  cried  out,  the  Lord  made  a  stop  of  him- 
■elf,  and  therefore  is  said  to  add  no  more.  (Deut.  v.  22.)  It  was 
A  glory  of  thu  gospel  above  all  other  mc^iuiges,  in  that  it  was 
immediately  spoken  by  Christ,  (Hcb.  i.  2 ;  ii.  3;)  and  so  Gud*s 
immediate  pnblication  of  the  moral  law  puts  a  glory  and  honor 
upon  it  above  any  other  laws ;  and  therefore,  while  Mr.  Ironside 
goes  about  to  put  the  sHme  honor  u|)on  ceremonial  laws,  he  doth 
nut  a  little  oliscure  and  cast  dishonor  upon  those  that  arc  moral, 
by  making  this  honor  to  be  common  with  ceremonial,  and  not 
proper  only  to  moral  laws. 

7*Aem  143,     Nor  do  I  say  that  the  writing  of  the  law  on 
Hone  argues  it  to  be  moral,  (for  some  laws  not  moral  were  me- 
diately writ  on  stone  by  Joshua,  (Josh.  viii.  32,)  but  because  it 
was  wiit  immediately  by  the  linger  of  God  on  such  tables  of 
«tane,  and  that  not  once,  but  twice ;  not  on  paper  or  parchment, 
but  on  stone,  which  argues  their  continuance ;  and  not  on  stone 
in  open  fields,  but  on  such  etone  as  was  laid  up  in  the  ark,a  place 
tl  most  safety,  being  most  sacred,  and  a  type  of  Christ,  who 
ipi  this  law,  and  upon  whose  heart  it  was  writ,  (Ps.  xl.  6,  7.)  to 
lisfy  justice,  and  to  make  just  and  righteous  before  God  all  that 
II  be  saved,  of  uU  whom  the  righteousness  of  ihie  law,  ac- 
inlingto  justice,  was  to  be  exaclcd.    What  do  lliese  things  argue 
ft  at  least  thu^  much,  thai  if  any  taw  was  to  be  perpetuated,  this 
ircly  ought  so  to  be  ?     Mr.  Primrose  iclls  us   that  the  writing 
I  stone  did  nut  signify  conlinuunce  of  the  law,  but  the  hard- 
of  their  stony  hearts,  which  the  law  writ  upon  them,  was 
ible  to  overcome  ;  and  it  is  true  timt  the  stony  tables  did 
_  ify  stony  hearts,  but  it  is  false  that  the  writing  on  stone 
4id  not  signify  continuance  also,  according  to  Scripture  phra 
for  all  the  children  of  God  have  stony  hearts  by  nature.    Now, 
Uod  hnth  promised  to  write  his  law  upou  such  hearts  as  are  by 
nature  tlony,  and  his  writing  of  them  there  Implies  the  contiiiu- 


L 


13  • 


IM 


T««  «<.«kVTTT  or  TitK  JAniiATn. 


I 


I 


I 


mf»  ti  thMW  tikNir ;  *>  ikiU  biith  iIicm:  mighl  stand  togetiier,  and 
Um  tiwili»aifc'  «•  Ulij  ihof,  vix^  ihc  nhulc:  law  of  Goil  was  nrit 
M  1»)th>  vt  «MMS  t0  txmtinup  tlirre  :  so  llie  whole  law  of  God 
k»  Wtil  <W  Mmy  tvemti*  Itr  iiaiure,  iv  coniinue  iliereon. 

ftMtk  144>  Onlv  mural  laws,  and  all  moral  laws,  are  tlius 
MWWMtiljr  «nd  iJMtcrall/  honored  by  God,  the  len  commBiiU- 
ITMfiili  bmg  Chrutiaii  piindt^ctd  and  coinraon  heads  of  nil  moral 
(hllivt  tQ«-Mtl  God  and  men  ;  under  which  general?,  all  the  par- 
tk'ulnrmornldultedmlhe  commenlaries  of  Uic  prophets  and  apos- 
tlnt  nra  virluAllj  c-omprcheDded  and  conUineil ;  and  thci-ufore 
Iklr.  Primrose's  argument  in  weak,  who  thinks  that  this  honor  put 
ii|Hin  (he  decalogue  doth  not  argue  il  to  be  moral,  because  then 
luan^  other  particular  moiiil  laws  set  down  in  Scripture,  not  in 
tables  of  slone,  but  in  paichmenls  of  the  prophets  and  aposlleR, 
should  not  be  moral :  for  we  do  not  say  that  all  moral  Liws  par- 
ticularly were  tlius  specially  honored,  but  that  all  and  only  moral 
laws  summarily  were  thus  honored  ;  in  which  summaries  all  ihe 

{articulars  arc  contained,  and,  in  that  respect,  equally  honored. 
t  may  ail'ect  one's  heart  wi[h  great  mourning  to  see  the  miiny 
inventions  of  men's  hearts  to  bloi  out  this  remembrance  of  the 
Sabbath  day :  they  first  coat  it  out  of  paradise,  and  shut  it  out  of 
the  world  until  Moses'  time ;  when  in  Moses'  time  it  is  published 
OS  a  law,  and  crowned  with  the  same  honor  as  all  other  munil 
laws,  yet  then  they  make  it  lo  be  but  a  ceremonial  law,  continu- 
ing only  until  the  coming  of  Clirist;  after  which  time  it  ceaseth 
to  be  any  law  at  all,  unless  the  church's  constitution  shall  please 
to  make  it  so,  which  is  worst  of  all. 

TTietit  Ho.  Every  thing,  indeed,  which  was  published  by 
God's  immediate  voice  in  promulgating  of  the  law  is  not  moral 
and  common  to  all ;  but  some  things  so  spoken  may  be  peculiar 
and  proper  to  the  Jewu,  because  some  things  thus  spoken  were 
promises  or  motives  only,  annexed  lo  the  law,  to  persuade  to  the 
obedience  thereof;  but  tliey  were  not  laws  ;  for  the  question  is, 
whether  all  laws  spoken  and  writ  thus  immediately  were  nut 
moral;  but  the  argument  which  some  produce  against  this  is, 
from  the  promise  muiexed  to  the  fitlli  command,  concerning  long 
life,  and  from  the  motive  of  redempUon  out  of  the  bouse  of 
bondage,  in  the  preface  to  the  commandments,  both  which  (they 
say)  were  sjioken  iinmediuteiy,  but  yet  were  both  of  iheni  proper 
unto  the  Jews.  But  suppose  the  promise  annexed  to  the 
fifth  commandment  be  proper  to  the  Jews,  and  ceremonial,  as 
Mr.  Primrose  pleads,  (which  yet  many  strong  reasons  from  Eph, 
vi.  2  may  induce  one  lo  deny,)  what  is  this  to  the  question? 
which  is  not  concerning  promises,  but  commandmeAts   antl  laws. 


I 


^^  Wll 


TBK    MORALITY   OF  THE    SABBATH.  l>il 

Siippoite  also  llittt  ihe  motive  in  the  preface  of  the  commanii- 
nteDls.  lilorally  understood,  is  proper  to  llie  Jews ;  yel  tliis  is  also 
evident,  ihul  such  reasons  find  motives  as  are  proper  to  somp,  anil 
perhaps  ceremonial,  may  be  annexed  to  moral  laws,  which  lire 
common  lo  all  i  nor  wilt  it  follow  thai  hiws  are  therefore  not  enro^ 
non,  hecause  the  motives  tliercto  are  proper.  We  thai  dwell  in 
America  may  be  persuaded  to  love  and  fear  God  (which  arc 
norAl  dulie.')  in  regard  of  ourredemption  and  deliverances  fruni 
out  ofthose  vast  sea  elorms  we  once  bud,  and  tbe  tumults  in  Europe 
which  now  are,  which  motives  are  proper  lo  ourselves.  Pi'om- 
ites  aiul  motives  amiexed  to  the  commntidments  come  in  as' 
mean*  to  a  higher  end,  viz.,  obedience  to  the  laws  ihem^elvcs ; 
and  benee  (he  laws  themselves  may  be  moral,  and  these  not  su, 
though  iramediaiety  spoken,  because  ihey  be  not  chiefly  nor  lastly 
intended  herein.  I  know  Wallteus  makes  the  preface  lo  the 
CommHndments  &  part  of  tlie  Brst  commandment,  and  therefore 
lie  would  hence  infer  that  some  pun  (at  lensi)  of  a  command- 
ment is  proper  to  the  Jews  ;  but  if  these  words  contain  a  motive 
prea:iing  to  the  obedience  of  the  whole,  how  is  it  possible  that 
they  should  be  a  part  of  the  Inw,  or  of  any  one  law  ?  For  what 
force  of  a  law  can  there  be  in  that  which  only  declares  unto  us 
who  it  is  that  redeemed  ihem  out  of  Egypt's  bondage?  For  il  can 
not  be  true  (which  the  same  author  allirms)  ih.it  in  these  words 
b  set  forth  only  who  that  Go<l  is  whom  we  are  to  have  lo  be  our 
God  in  the  first  commandment ;  bin  they  are  of  larger  c 
■buwini;  us  who  that  God  is  whom  we  are  to  worship,  according 
lo  tbe  hrst  commandment,  and  that  with  his  own  worship,  aci-oril^ 
ing  to  (be  second,  and  that  reverently,  according  to  the  third,  and 
whose  day  we  are  lo  sanctify,  according  lo  the  fourth,  and  whose 
will  we  are  to  do  in  all  duties  of  love  toward  man,  according  to 
the  MTeral  duties  of  the  second  table:  and  therefore  this  dcclu- 
rution  of  God  is  no  more  a  part  of  the  first  than  of  any  o 
nandraeni.  and  every  other  commandmeni  may  cliallenge  it  as  d 
part  of  themselves,  as  well  as  tbe  first. 

JTietii  HCi.  It  is  a  truth  tts  immovable  as  the  pillars  of 
1i«avcn,  that  God  hntli  given  to  all  men  universally  a  rule  of  life 
to  cunduci  them  to  their  end.  Xow.  if  the  whole  decalogue  be  nut 
It,  wiraishiill?  Thegosiwl  is  the  rule  of  our  fnilh,  but  nolof  uur 
gpiriiual  life,  which  jjows  from  faJlh.  (Gal.  ii.  20.  John  v.  2i.) 
TniS  law  ihercfore  isTEe  rule  of  our  lifg  ;  now,  if  nine  of  lhc*e 
be  B  complete  rule  witliout  a  tenth,  exclude  that  one,  and  thuii 
who  sees  not  an  o|ieii  gap  mode  tor  all  the  rest  logo  out  alal«o? 
For  wha-a  will  any  man  slop,  if  once  this  principle  be  laid,  viz., 
thai  the  whole  law  ii  nol  the  rule  of  life  ?  Itluy  nut  Tapist*  blot  . 
'Cond  nUo.  aa  some  of  Cussander**  followers  have  d" 


^  all  but  tn-o,  and  as  the  AntinommnB  at  Iliis  day  do  all  ?  And 
bSve  they  not  a  good  ground  laid  for  it,  wlio  n)ay  lienee  nafely 
Kity  lliat  llm  di^cnlogue  is  not  a  rule  ol'  life  for  all  ?  Mr. 
Primrose,  that  he  might  keep  himself  from  a  broken  head  here, 
sends  us  for  salve  to  Ibe  light  of  nature,  and  the  teElimony  of  the 
goiipel,  both  which  (sailh  he)  maintain  and  confirm  ihe  morality 
of  all  the  other  command  men  Is  except  this  one  of  the  Subbatli. 
But  Bs  it  sliftU  a|)pear  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  hnth  conHnna- 
tion  from  both,  (if  this  direction  was  sirtRetent  and  good.)  so  it 
may  be  in  the  mean  time  considered  why  the  Gentiles,  who  were 
universal  idolaters,  and  therefore  blotted  out  the  light  of  nature 
(as  Mr,  Primrose  confesseth)  against  the  second  commandment. 
might  not  as  well  blot  out  much  of  (hat  light  of  nature  about  the 
.Subbath  also;  and  then  how  shall  the  light  of  nature  be  any 
suflicient  discovery  unto  us  of  that  which  is  moral,  and  of  that 
which  is  not? 

TTietis  147.  There  is  a  law  made  mention  of,  James  ii.  10, 
whose  parts  are  so  inseparably  linked  together,  that  whosoever 
brt-aks  any  one  is  guilty  of  the  breach  of  all,  and  consequently 
whosoever  is  called  to  the  obedience  of  one  is  called  to  the  obe- 
dience of  all,  and  consequently  all  the  jiarticular  laws  which  it 
contains  are  homogeneal  parte  of  the  same  tolum,  or  whole  law. 
If  it  be  demanded.  What  is  this  law  ?  the  answer  is  writ  with 
tfiu  beams  of  the  sun,  that  it  is  the  whole  moral  law  contained  in 
the  decalogue.  For,  1.  The  afKistle  speaks  of  such  a  law,  which 
not  only  the  Jews,  but  all  the  Gentiles,  are  bound  to  observe,  and 
for  the  breach  of  any  one  of  which,  not  only  the  Jews,  but  the 
Gentiles  also,  were  guilty  of  the  brearh  of  all ;  and  therefore  it- 
can  not  he  meant  of  the  ceremonial  law,  which  did  neither  bind 
Gentiles  nor  Jews,  at  that  lime  wherein  the  apostle  writ.  2.  lie 
speaks  of  such  a  law  as  is  called  a  royid  law,  and  a  law  of  liberty, 
(ver.  8,  12.)  whiuh  can  not  be  meant  of  the  ceremonial  law  in 
whole  or  in  part,  which  is  called'n  law  of  bondage,  not  worthy 
the  royal  and  kingly  spirit  of  a  Christian  tosroop  to.  (Gal.  iv.  !l.) 
3.  It  is  ttint  law  by  the  works  of  which  all  men  are  bound  lo 
miinifest  their  faith,  and  by  which  faith  i^  mtide  perfect,  (ver.  2t?,) 
which  can  not  be  the  ceremonial  nor  evangelical,  for  that  is  the 
law  of  faith,  and  therefore  it  is  meant  of  the  law  moral.  4-.  It  is 
thai  law  of  which,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  nor  "commit  adultery." 
are  parts,  (ver.  11.)  Now,  these  laws  are  part  of  the  decalogue 
only,  and  whereof  it  may  be  said  He  that  said,  "  Thou  elialt  not 
commit  adultery,"  said  also,  '■  Reraember  to  keep  the  Subbalh 
holy ; "  and  therefore  the  whole  decalogue,  and  not  some  parts  of  it 
/  only,  is  the  moral  law ;  from  whence  it  is  manifest  that  the  apostle 
'  doth  not  speak  (as  Mr.  Primrose  would  interpret  him)  of  oliend- 


THE   MORALITY   OF  THE  SA&BATU. 

ing  agninst  the  word  nt  large,  and  of  which  llie  ceremonial  laWB 
were  a  part,  bui  of  olTunding  ugninst  lliut  pnrt  of  llie  word,  to 
wit,  the  moral  law,  of  which  he  that  offerKls  against  any  one  ta 
fjuitty  of  the  breach  of  all ;  hence,  also,  his  olher  answer  falls  to 
the  dusl.  viz..  that  the  fourth  command  ii  no  part  of  tlie  law, 
anil  therefore  the  not  observing  of  it  ia  no  sin  um^er  the  New 
Testament,  because  it  was  given  only  to  the  Jewa.and  not  lo  us; 
for  if  it  be  a  part  of  the  decalogue,  of  which  the  apostle  only 
speaks,  then  it  is  a  mere  begging  of  the  question,  tu  alfirm  that 
it  is  no  part  of  the  law  to  Christians.  But  we  se«  the  apostle 
Itcre  s|>«ulu  of  the  law  and  the  royal  law,  and  the  royal  taw  of 
liberty  i  his  meaning  therefore  must  be  of  some  special  law, 
which  he  calls  »ai'  iiojii;r,  the  law.  Now.  if  he  thus  speaks  of 
•oinc  special  law,  what  can  it  be  but  the  whole  decalogue,  and 
not  a  part  of  it  only?  aa  when  he  speaks  of  the  gospel  ■«'  (inx^y, 
he  means  not  some  part,  but  the  whole  gospel  also;  and  if  every 
part  of  the  decalogue  is  not  moral,  how  should  any  man  know 
from  any  law  or  rule  of  God  what  was  moral,  and  what  not  ? 
and  consequently  what  is  sinful,  and  what  not  ?  If  it  be  said, 
by  the  light  of  nature,  we  have  proved  that  this  is  a  blind  and 
corrupt  judge,  as  it  exbts  in  corrupt  man  ;  if  it  be  said  by  the 
light  of  the  gospel,  this  was  then  to  set  up  a  light  unto  Christians  ■ 
to  diiicern  it  by,  but  none  to  the  Jews  while  they  wantL-d  the 
gospel  as  dispensed  lo  us  now ;  many  moral  laws  also  are  not 
mentioned  tn  the  gospel,  it  being  but  occidental  to  it  to  set  forth 
ihn  coratoandmcnts  of  the  law. 

TKnrtf  US.  If  Christ  came  to  fulfill,  and  not  to  destroy,  tb« 
law,  (Matt-  V.  17.)  then  the  commandment  of  the  Subbalh  is  iwt 
aboliiihed  by  Christ's  coming;  if  not  one  jot,  pric&,  or  tittle  of 
ihe  law  shall  {>erish,  much  less  shall  a  whole  law  perish  or  be 
destroyed  by  the  coming  of  Christ 

7%em  149.  It  is  true,  indeed,  tliat  by  bw  and  prophets  is 
sometimes  meant  their  whole  doctrine,  both  ceremonial,  moral, 
and  prophetical,  which  Christ  fulfilled  personalty,  but  not  so  in 
this  place  of  Matthew  ;  but  by  law  is  meant  the  moral  law,' and 
by  prophets  those  prophetical  illustruiions  and  interpretation* 
(hereof,  in  whicli  the  prophets  do  alKiund.  For,  I.  The  Lord 
Christ  spcflks  of  tliat  luw  only,  which  whosoever  should  tencb 
men  lo  break  and  ca^it  off,  he  should  be  least  in  tlie  kingdom  of 
betiven,  (Matt.  V.  19;)  but  the  apostles  did  teach  men  to  coat 
olf  the  ceremonial  law,  and  yet  were  never  a  whit  less  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  3.  He  speaks  of  that  luw  by  confoiiniiy 
tu  which  all  his  true  disciples  should  exceed  the  righleuusncsH 
of  Kribea  Bad  Pharisees ;  but  lltal  waa  not  by  being  extemally 


4 


bM.l<'»i  H*  if 
law  ai  V-M. 

»>iU  HlU 

AM  U»d  It  .< 

rMi»>v  i<  I'xi 


IOkIiiI,  111! 


I 


JJJ  THE    MDRAI.irr    OK    TIIK    SAUll.VTH. 

eeirmonioiia  or  nioiul,  but  by  iiiU>miil  confiirmiiy  to  Uje  spirit- 
onlnpsis  of  God's  Ih«-.  wliic-li  iho  I'linri-rw  tlien  reganled  not. 
S.  Clirisl  i-pciikii  ol'  the  IchbI  (viiimimiliiwnts,  nml  of  these  least 
coinnmniimi-nW, ,«/«  rflf  ^ftoifir  ui'™*-  t'll»-  ria»io(w.  Now,  what 
■lioiilU  llnwi-  l(iv«l  wmmttiidiwiitM  be  but  timse  wliich  ht  nfitr- 
ir«nl*  iiituriiri'iji  ol'  riwh  mipr,  ndiiltenwn  ttyi>«,  unclioste  thougbi.s 
lovi>  to  cni'iHitvi.  vn\,  wliiiTi  wv  willwl  Icnsl,  In  opposition  to  the 

ShHi'i'>uk>itl  iliM'iiu-*'  t>UHH>(|i  lit  llitwK  tliue*.  who  urged  the  gross 
iiIJvi  i-wninnmliHl,  hihI  i,\wj\-inii*^l  turn  only  for  gross  sins  for- 
,  t\ui«u1«<it  t>iir  ounipttriH  coiilbrmiij  to  ilie 
lnuti.rt',  liy  ihf  Iwwt  of  tboac  cominand- 
liiHii  tJKwi*  which  he  afturwarils  seta 
I  MiMlionot'  the  law,  (ver.  21.)  never 
ii-i  Mv  eeromonial,  but  moral  lawg; 
iliinkg  that  there  is  no  conneclion 
»ili  iiikI  iIip  oibcr  expoaitor*8  verses  of  the 
whiwuiivcr  ponders  the  onalyeia  impartially 
11!,  ovuii  from  the  seventeenth  verse  to  the 
111'  whivh  is,  to  be  perfect  as  our  heaveuly 
>  i'  never  made  a  pattern  of  perfection  to 
iiiily  in  moral  miitlcre.  Il  is  true,  indeed, 
(wlihih  •unir  oliji'i't.)  iliiii  then]  is  mention  made  of  ahar  and 
t>ni'r|/ltH',  (vei-.  iji't,)  tvhk'ii  wura  cereraoniaJs ;  but  lliere  ia  no 
law  nUtnt  llivin,  but  only  n  moritl  law  of  love  is  thereby  pressed 
with  ulhiilim  to  the  oenimonial  prnclice  in  those  limes ;  ho 
kixHtkn  iiIk'  nlxiut  dlvon-e,  but  this  is  but  Kccidenlally  brought  to 
•liiiw  llu'  uwrAlity  tif  Iho  law  of  adultery;  the  kw  of  relalialion 
WHUI*  no)  hum)  witiioMQH  to  testily  to  the  morality  of  it,  but  I 
VUllifc  ihluk  il  1>  brought  In  to  set  forth  a  moral  law  against 
pIVHli^  ii'vi'njp*.  Uuv  Sttviour,  iiid(5cd,  doth  not  spciik  pnrlic- 
uUrly  iiUuil  lhf>  Ihw  uf  the  S<ibliulh,  ■»  tie  doth  of  killing,  and 
fttllihvry,  »lu.  I  but  If  tbert-fore  it  be  uoi  moral,  because  not  spoken 
of  lltire,  lh>'n  iiuiiher  [ho  first,  sceond,  nor  fiflli  commanil  are 
HK>n4i  Iwcftunt'  they  «r«  not  expressly  opened  in  this  cbaplor  ; 
foi"  tliH  m-ope  of  our  Saviour  was  to  speBk  a^iinst  the  pharisa- 
tiuil  luieiprplnliona  of  the  law,  in  curluilinf;  of  il.  in  making  gross 
UlurdiT  to  bo  forbidden,  but  not  anger;  adultery  lo  be  forbidden, 
but  not  lust  i  which  evil  they  were  not  so  much  guilty  of  in  |>oint 
of  tlio  Subbiah ;  but  they  rather  made  the  phyUclvries  of  it  too 
brortd  by  overmuch  strictness,  which  our  Saviour  ihorufore  else- 
where eondemns,  but  not  a  word  lending  to  abolish  this  law  of 
tl>e  Kubbath. 

Tnetit  130.     If,   therefore,  the  copmaiidment  is  to  be  ac- 
counted moral  wliich  the  gospel  reiinforcelh,  an4  commends  unto 


f 


TUE   MOKAMTV    OK   TIIK 


A  ni. 


155 


I 


Hi,  (according  to  Mr.  Primrose's  principles,)  tlicn  the  fourth 
'inenl  may  wkU  come  into  llie  nccouot  of  such  as  are 
montl ;  but  the  pliti.-BS  mentioned  and  cleared  out  of  the  New 
TesUunent  evince  tliua  much:  the  Lord  Jesus  coming  not  to 
destroy  the  luw  of  the  Sabbath,  but  lo  estabKsh  it ;  and  of  the 
breach  of  wliich  one  law  he  that  is  guilty  is  guilty  of  the  breach 
of,  all. 

Thetit  1.>1.  If  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath  had  been  Hrstf 
impelled  upon  man  since  the  fall,  and  io  special  upon  the  people' 
of  the  Jews  at  Mount  Sinai,  there  might  be  then  some  color  and 
reason  to  clothe  the  Sabbath  with  rags  and  the  worn-out  gar- 
meuts  of  cereraonialness ;  but  if  it  was  imposed  upon  man  in  in- 
iKicency,  not  only  before  all  types  and  ceremonies,  but  also  before 
all  sin,  and  upon  Adam  as  a  common  pennon,  as  a  commandment 
not  proper  lo  that  estate,  nor  as  to  a  particular  person,  and  proper 
lo  himself,  then  the  morality  of  it  is  most  evident ;  our  adver- 
Mirie?,  ilierefure,  lay  about  them  here,  that  they  might  drive  the 
Sabbath  out  of  par.ulise,  and  make  it  a  thing  altogether  unknown  I 
to  the  slate  of  innocency  ;  which  if  they  can  not  make  good,  their 
whole  frame  against  (he  morality  of  the  Sabbath  falls  Hal  to  the 
ground  ;  and  therefore  it  is  of  do  small  coiisetjuence  to  clear  up 
this  truth,  viz.,  that  Adam  in  innocency,  and  in  him  all  his  pos- 
terity, were  commanded  to  sanctify  a  weekly  Sabbath. 

TTietit  152.  One  would  think  that  the  words  of  the  te=t 
(Gon.  ii.  2,  3)  were  so  plain  to  prove  a  Sabbath  in  that  innocent 
ntaic  that  there  could  be  no  evasion  mode  from  ihe  evidence  of 
them ;  for  it  is  expressly  said,  that  the  day  the  Lord  rested,  the 
lame  day  the  Lord  blessed  and  sanctified ;  but  we  know  lie  rested 
the  seventh  day  immediately  at\er  the  creation,  and  therefore  ho 
Immediately  blessed  and  BanctiJicU  llie  same  day  also ;  for  the 
words  run  copulativcly,  hu  rested  the  seventh  day,  "and  he 
blessed  and  sanctified  that  day;"  but  il  is  strange  lo  see.not  only 
what  odd  evasions  men  make  from  this  clear  truth,  but  also  what 
ouriuus  cabalisms  and  food  interpretations  men  make  of  llie  lie- 
brew  text,  the  answer  to  which  learned  Rivet  hath  bug  ainco 
made,  which  therefore  I  mention  not. 

TkftU  133.  The  words  are  not  thus  copulative  in  order  of 
•(ory,  but  in  orJer  of  liute  ;  I  say  not  in  order  of  story  and  dis- 
eourse,  for  so  tilings  for  distant  iu  time  may  be  coupled  togulher 
by  this  copulative  particle  and,  as  Mr.  Primrose  truly  shows, 
(Ex.  xvi.  32,  ao :  1  Sam.  xvii.  51 ;)  but  ilicy  are  coupled  arid 
knit  together  in  respect  of  time ;  for  it  is  the  like  phrase  which 
Uosea  immedialely  after  useth,  (Gen.  v.  I,  3,)  where  it  is  said, 
:  **  God  created  tnao  in  his  image,  and  bleased  them,  and  called 


i 


166 


BATH. 


i 


tfieir  names,"  elc-i  which  were  lojielher  in  times  so  it  is  lierej 
the  time  God  reeled,  ihnt  time  God  blessed  ;  t'ur  the  scope  of 
:  wards  (Gen.  ii.  1~3)  is  to  show  whnt  the  Lord  did  that 
'enth  day,  after  the  finishing  of  the  whole  creation  in  six  days, 
and  that  ia,  he  ble^ed  and  sanctified  it.  For,  look,  as  the  Bwjjie 
of  Moses  in  muking  mention  of  the  six  days  orderly  was  to  slion 
what  God  did  every  particular  day,  so  what  else  should  be  ttie 
scope  in  Diukiiig  mention  of  the  seventh  day,  unless  it  was  to 
show  what  God  did  then  on  thutday?  and  (bat  is,  he  then  rested, 
and  blessed  and  sanctified  it,  even  then  in  that  state  of  inno- 

TTtesia  154.  God  is  said  (Gen.  ii.  1-3)  to  bless  the  Subbath 
as  he  blessed  other  creatures ;  hut  be  blessed  the  creatnres  at 
tliat  time  ibey  were  made,  (Gen.  i.  12,  28,)  and  therefore  ho 
blessed  the  Sabbath  at  that  lime  he  rested.  Shall  God's  woik 
be  presently  blessed,  and  shull  his  reiil  be  then  witlioul  any? 
-Wfts  Go<ra  rest  a  cause  of  sanctifying  the  day  many  hundred 
years  after,  (as  our  adversaries  say,)  and  was  there  not  as  much 
cause  then  when  the  memory  of  tlie  creation  was  most  fresh, 
whieh  was  the  fittest  time  to  remember  God's  work  in?  Mr. 
Primrose  tells  us  thai  the  creatures  were  blessed  with  a  present 
benediction,  because  Ihey  did  eonstantly  need  it ;  but  there  was 
no  necessity  (he  saitb)  llnil  man  should  solemnize  the  seventb 
as  soon  as  it  is  made ;  but  as  we  sball  show  that  man  did  then 
need  a  special  day  of  blessing,  so  it  is  a  anfficieut  ground  of 
believing  that  then  God  blessed  the  day  when  there  was  a  full, 
and  just,  and  sufficient  cause  of  blessing,  which  ta  God's  reeling; 
it  being  also  Bucb  a  cause  as  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Jews  many 
hundred  years  after,  but  common  lo  all  mankind. 

ITiesis'  155.  The  rest  of  God  (wliicb  none  question  lo  be  in 
innocency  immodiaiely  after  the  creation)  was  either  a  natural 
rest,  (as  1  may  call  it,)  that  is,  a  bare  cessation  from  labor,  or  a 
holy  rest,  i.  e.,  a  rest  »e\.  apart  t'n  eiemplum,  or  for  example,  and 
for  holy  uses  ;  but  it  was  not  a  natural  rest  merely,  for  tlifn  it  had 
been  enougli  lo  have  eaid,  that  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  day  God 
rested;  but  we  see  God  speaks  of  a  day,  the  seventh  day.  God 
hath  rested  with  a  natural  rest  or  cessation  from  creation  ever 
since  the  end  of  the  first  sixth  day  of  the  world  until  now  ;  why 
then  is  it  said  that  G04I  rested  the  seventh  day  ?  or  why  is  it  not 
rather  said  that  he  began  his  rest  on  that  day,  but  that  it  is 
limited  to  a  day  ?  Certainly  this  argues  that  he  speaks  not  of 
natural  rest  merely,  or  that  wliicb,  ex  natura  rei,  follows  the 
finishing  of  bis  work  ;  for  it  is  itien  an  unfit  and  improper  speech 
to  limit  God's  rest  wiihin  the  circle  of  a  day;  and  therefore 


THK    UURALITV    OF    THE    SAUBATIl. 

he  epeaks  of  a  holy  rest  (hen  nppoinled  for  holy  uses  as  nn 
example  for  ligly  vaU  which  niiiy  well  be  limited  wirhin  the 
uf  a  day ;  and  htnee  it  uiitleiiiiibly  tullows,  that  if  God 
rusted  in  innixrvncj  niih  such  a  rest,  then  the  seventh  day  wm 
then  mnclifi<!d,  it  being  the  day  of  holy  reiit, 

T^Hi'f  16G.  It  utn  not  be  shown  tliat  ever  God  made  himself 
,n  fXAinpIc  of  any  act,  but  that  in  the  present  esatn  pie  there  ivaa 
nd  is  a  present  rulf,  binding  iminediulely  to  follow  that  exiunple ; 
r  therefore,  from  tlie  foundntion  of  the  world,  God  made  himself 
an  example  in  six  days'  labor  and  in  a  seventh  day'^  rest,  why 
should  not  this  example  then  and  at  tbat  time  of  innocency  bn 
binding,  there  being  no  example  which  God  sets  before  us  but  it 
suppoacth  a  rule  binding  us  immediately  thereunto?  The  gi^at 
ind  roost  high  God  could  have  made  [lie  world  in  a  moment  or 
n  a  hundred  years ;  why  did  lie  make  it  then  in  six  days,  and 
rested  the  «even[b  day,  but  that  i(  might  be  an  example  to  man?. 
■rident  thai,  ever  since  the  world  began,  man's  life  w^^ 
be  spent  in  lalior  and  action  which  God  could  have  appointed  to* 
coniomplationonlyi  nor  will  any  euy  that  his  life  should  be  spent 
fluly  in  labor,  and  never  have  any  special  day  of  rest,  (unless  tliA 
AntinomiunvS  who  herein  sin  against  the  light  of  nature  ;t/if  there! 
fore  God  was  exemplary  in  h'm  six  days"  labor,  why  slfould  any 
itink  but  that  he  was  thus  also  in  his  seventh  day's  rest  ?  point- 
ing out  unto  man  most  visibly  (as  it  were]  thereby  on  what  day 
he  should  rest.  A  meet  lime  for  labor  was  a  moral  duty  since 
man  was  framed  upon  earth  j  God  therefore  gives  man  an  ex- 
ample of  it  iu  making  the  world  in  six  diiys,  A  meet  time  for 
holy  rest,  the  end  of  all  holy  and  honest  labor,  was  mnch  more 
moral,  (the  end  being  better  than  the  means ;)  wby  then  waa  not 
the  example  of  this  also  seen  in  God's  rest  ?  Mr.  Ironside,  in- 
deed, is  at  a  stand  here,  and  confesseih  his  ignorance  in  con- 
d'iriug  liow  God's  working  six  days  should  be  exemplary  to  man 
In  innocency,  it  being  not  preceptive,  hut  permissive  only  to  man 
in  his  apostasy.  JJut  let  a  plain  analysis  be  made  of  the  motives 
used  to  press  obetlience  to  (he  tburlh  command,  and  we  shall  find 
(according  to  the  consent  of  all  tlic  orthodox  not  prejudiced  in 
ibis  controversy)  that  God's  example  of  working  six  days  in  cre- 
ating the  world  is  held  forth  as  a  motive  (o  press  God's  people 
to  do  all  their  work  within  six  days  also;  und  the  very  reason 
of  our  labor  and  rurt  now  is  tbe  example  of  God's  labor  and 
■  nsi  then,  as  may  also  appear,  £x.  xxxi.  17.  And  to  say  lliat 
[  those  words  in  the  commandment  (vii,,  six  days  thou  slinlt  labor) 
I  mr«  DO  way  preceptive,  but  merely  promissivc,  is  both  cross  to  the 
I  Uprow  letter  uf  the  text,  and  contrary  to  moral  equity,  to  alloir 
TUL.  iti.  14 


I 


I 


MOUALITV   OF   TUE   a\BBATU, 

uij  pnrt  or  Ihe  0ix  dnys  for  Hitiful  idleness  or  neglect  of  our 
weekly  work,  so  far  forih  as  the  rest  upon  the  Sabbnlh  be 
hindered  hereby, 

7%NI(  157.  Tlie  word  mnelijitd  is  Tnriously  taken  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  various  lliings  are  variously  and  differently  esnctilied; 
yet  in  this  place,  when  God  is  said  to  Eanctify  the  Salibatli,  (Gen. 
ii.  2,  3,)  it  ninst  be  one  of  these  two  ways:  either,  1.  By  infusion 
of  holiness  and  snnctifi cation  into  it,  as  holy  men  are  said  lo  be 
eanclified ;  or,  3.  By  separation  of  it  from  common  use,  and  dedi- 
cation of  it  to  holy  use,  ns  the  temple  and  altar  are  said  to  be 
sanctified. 

Thetii  138.  God  did  not  sanctify  the  Sabbatli  by  infusion  of 
any  habitual  holiness  into  it,  for  the  circumsiance  of  a  seventh 
day  is  not  capable  thereof,  whereof  only  rational  creatures,  men 
and  angels,  are. 

TTutit  159.  It  must  therefore  be  said  to  be  sanctified  in  re- 
spect of  its  separation  from  common  use,  and  dediciiion  lo  holy 
use,  as  the  temple  and  labernncle  were,  which  yet  had  no  inhei*- 
eot  holinees  in  them.  > 

Tlittii  1 60.  Now,  if  Ihe  Snbbalh  van  thus  sanctified  by  dedi- 
cation, it  must  be  either  for  the  use  of  God  or  of  man  ;  i.  e.,  either 
that  God  might  keep  this  holy  day,  or  that  man  might  observe  it 
as  a  holy  day  Eo  God  ;  but  what  dishonor  is  it  lo  God  lo  put  him 
up0[i  the  observation  of  a  holy  day  ?  aud  therefore  it  was  dedi- 
cated and  consecrated  for  man's  sake  and  use,  that  so  he  might' 
observe  it  as  holy  unlo  God. 

TTieih  IGl.  This  day  therefore  is  said  lo  be  sanctified  of 
God  that  man  might  sunelify  it  and  dedicate  it  unlo  God ;  and 
hence  follows,  that  look,  as  man  could  never  have  lawfully  dedi- 
cated it  unto  God,  wilbout  a  precedent  institution  from  God,  so 
the  institution  of  G^  implies  a  known  command  given  by  God 
unlo  man  thereunto. 

Hifsig  162.  It  is  therefore  evident,  that  when  God  is  said  to 
sanctify  the  Sabbath,  (Gen.  ii.  2,  3,)  that  man  is  commanded 
hereby  to  sanctify  it,  and  dedicate  it  to  Ihe  holy  use  of  God. 
Sancttficare  est  lanclijtcart  mandare,  saith  Junius  ;  and  therefore, 
if  Mr.  Primrose  and  others  desire  to  know  where  God  com- 
mandelh  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath  in  Gen.  ii.  2,  they  may 
see  it  here  necessarily  implied  in  the  word  »anetify.  And  tlicre- 
fore,  if  God  did  sanctify  the  Sabbath  immediately  after  Ihe  CR-a- 
tion,  he  commanded  man  to  sanctify  it  then ;  for  so  the  word 
tnnctifiird  is  ei]iressly  expounded  by  llie  Holy  Ghost  himself. 
(Deut.  V.  15.)  We  need  net  therefore  seek  for  wood  among  trees, 
and  inquire  where,  and  when,  and  upon  what  ground  the  palri- 


I 

I 


THE   MORALITY    OF   TflK   SABBATH. 

STchs  before  Uoses  obsen'ed  a  Sabballj,  whcnns  it  was  famoutilj 
dedicaled  and  eanctitied,  i.  e,,  commtuiiled  lo  be  sanclifiei),  from 
tbe  firsi  foundation  of  the  world. 

TAmii  163.  Our  adversaries,  therefore,  daxzled  with  the  clear- 
ness of  the  light  shining  forih  from  the  teil.  (Gen.  ii.  2.)  to  wit, 
tlint  ibe  Sabbaib  was  comaianded  to  be  sanclilied  before  tbe  fall,  ■ 
do  dy  to  their  shifts,  and  seek  for  refuge  froai  several  answers ; 
soipelimes  they  any  it  is  sanctified  by  way  of  destinntlon,  some- 
times they  tell  us  of  anticipation,  soraelimes  they  think  the  Imok 
of  Genesb  was  writ  after  ExoduR.  and  many  such  inventions ; 
wbich  because  they  can  not  possibly  stand  one  with  another,  are 
therefore  more  fit  lo  vex  and  perplex  the  mind  than  to  Bfttisfy 
eonseienoe ;  and  indeed  do  argue  much  uncerlainiy  to  be  in  the 
minds  of  tho^  that  make  tlieae  and  the  like  a:iswer»,  as  not 
knowing  certainly  what  to  say,  nor  where  lo  stand :  yet  let  Ui 
examine   them. 

Thriii  ICA.  To  imagine  that  the  book  of  Genesis  was  writ 
atWr  Exodus,  and  yet  to  uflirm  that  the  Sabbath  in  Genesis  is 
mid  to  be  sanctified  and  blessed,  only  in  way  of  destination,  i.  e., 
because  God  destiiialeil  and  ordained  that  it  should  be  sanctified 
many  years  afler,  seems  to  be  an  ill-favored  and  misshapen  an- 
■wer,  and  no  way  fit  to  serve  their  turn  who  invent  it ;  for  if  it  * 
was  writ  af\er  Exodus,  what  need  was  lliere  lo  say  that  it  was 
dt^iinated  and  ordained  to  be  sanctified  for  time  lo  come?  when- 
as  upon  tliis  supposition  the  Sabbath  was  already  aanciified 
for  time  pa.«t,  as  appears  in  the  story  of  Ex.  xix.  20.  And 
therefore  Sir.  Primrose  translates  the  words  ihua :  that  God 
rested,  and  halh  blessed  and  hath  sanctified  the  seventh  day,  as 
if  Mnses  writ  of  it  as  a  thing  past  already  ;  but  what  irulh  is 
there  then  to  speak  of  a  destination  for  time  to  come  ?  I  know 
Junius  so  renders  the  Hebrew  words,  as  al*o  the  word  retted  ; 
but  we  know  bow  many  ways  some  of  the  Hebrew  tenses  look, 
nor  i«  it  any  matter  now  to  trouble  ourselves  about  them.  This 
only  may  be  considered,  that  it  is  a  mere  uncertain  shift  to  affirm 
that  Genesis  was  writ  after  Exodus.  Mr.  Ironside  tcIU  us  he 
eould  give  strong  reasons  for  it,  but  he  produceth  none ;  and  as 
for  bis  authorities  from  human  testimonies,  we  know  it  is  not  tit 
lo  weigh  out  truth  by  human  suffrages;  and  yet  herein  ibey  do 
not  ca*t  the  scale  for  Genesis  to  be  writ  after  Exodus  j  for 
although  Beda,  Abalcnsis,  and  divers  late  .lesuils  do  affirm  it, 
yet  Euitebius,  Catlmrinus,  Alcuinus,  a  Lapide,  and  sundry  others, 
both  Popish  and  Prolestuni  writers,  are  better  judgmcnted  here- 
in ;  and  their  reasons  for  Genesis  to  be  the  first  boni,  tts  it  is  first 
Ml  dowo,  seem  u>  be  most  strong.     The  casting  of  this  cause 


therefore  depends  not  upon  sut'li  i 
disorder  were  granted,  it  will  do  their  ei 
were,  might  he  made  nmnifesL 

Tlietit  165.  Mr.  Irun^ido  cnntuRGeth,  tliat  God's  resting  and 
RADC^fying  the  Sabbath  are  eoeinneous.  and  acknowledgeih  the 
connection  of  them  logeilier  at  the  same  lime,  by  the  copulative 
and;  and  that  as  God  uclually  rested, so  he  aelually  saiiciiSed  the 
day.  But  this  sanclitieation  wtiieb  he  means  is  nothing  else  but 
d^lination,  or  God's  purpose  and  intention  to  sanctity  it  alYer- 
wanl ;  so  that,  in  cfiect,  tliis  evasion  amounts  lo  thus  much,  viz., 
that  God  did  actaally  purpose  to  sanctify  it  about  twenty-five 
hundred  years  after  the  giving  of  the  law,  but  yet  did  not  ac- 
tually sanctify  it ;  and  if  this  be  the  meaning,  it  is  all  one  as  if  he 
bad  said  in  plain  terms,  viz.,  that  when  God  is  said  to  sanctify 
tlie  Sabbath,  he  did  not  indeed  sanctify  it,  only  he  purposed  so 
lo  do ;  and  although  Mr.  PrimroEe  and  himself  tells  us  that  the 
word  tanetify  signifies,  in  the  original,  some  time  to  prepare  and 
ordain,  so  it  may  be  said  that  the  word  signifies  sometimes  to 
publith  and  proclaim.  If  ihey  say  that  this  latter  can  not  be  the 
meaning,  because  we  Feod  not  in  Scripture  of  any  such  procla- 
mation that  this  should  be  the  Sabbath,  the  like  may  be  said  (u)>on 
the  reasons  mentioned)  concerning  their  destination  of  it  there- 
unto. Again :  if  to  sanctify  the  day  be  only  to  purpose  and  ordain 
to  sanctify  it,  then  the  Sabbath  was  no  more  sanctified  since  the 
creation  than  ah  lElemo,  and  before  the  world  began,  tor  then 
God  did  purpose  that  it  sluiuld  be  aanclified;  but  tliis  sanctifica- 
tion  here  spoken  of  seems  to  follow  God's  resting,  which  was  in 
time,  and  therefore  it  must  be  understood  of  another  sanctifica- 
tion  than  that  which  seems  to  be  before  all  time.  Again ;  as 
God  did  not  bless  the  Sabbath  in  way  of  destination,  so  neither 
did  he  sanctify  it  in  way  of  destination ;  but  he  did  not  bless  it  in 
way  of  destination,  for  let  them  produce  but  one  Scripture  where 
the  word  bleited  is  taken  in  this  sense,  for  a  purpose  only  to 
bless.  Indeed,  they  think  they  have  found  out  this  purpose  lo 
sanctify  in  the  word  saaclijied,  (Is.  xiiL  3 ;)  but  where  will  they 
find  the  like  for  the  word  blessed  u\so?  For  as  the  day  was 
blessed,  so  it  was  sanctified ;  and  yet  I  think  that  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  in  Is.  xiii.  3,  are  not  called  God's  sanctified  ones,  be- 
cause they  were  destinated  lo  be  sanctijied  for  that  work,  but 
because  they  were  so  prepared  for  it,  as  that  Ihey  were  actually 
separated  by  God's  word  for  the  accomplishment  of  such  work. 
But  our  adversaries  wilt  not  say  that  G<id  did  thus  sanctify  the 
Sabbath  in  paradise  by  his  word ;  and  yet  suppose  they  are  called 
tua  sanctified  ones  in  way  of  destination,  yet  there  is  not  the  liko 


THE   HORALITI    OK  THE   SABBATH.  ICl 

lo  inteq>ret  it  bcre;  for  in  Is.  xiii.  3,  God  bimself  is 
brought  in  imraediatclv  speaking,  betiii'e  whuae  eternal  eyes  aH 
ibingj  to  come  are  as  prc-Menl,  ainl  heni;e  lie  iniglit  call  thera  his 
\  -saiiclified  ones ;  but  in  this  pluue  ol'  Deo.  ii.  2,  Sfosea  (nut  God 
I  innncdialely)  speaks  of  this  windifyiiig  in  wny  of  historicul  nar- 
'  rniioti  oiil}-.  Tiiis  destination,  whicli  is  stood  so  much  upon,  is 
I  but  a  mere  imaginaiion. 

'(  1 G6.     It  can  not  be  denied  but  that  it  is  a  u»nal  thing  in 
[  Scripture  to  set  down  things  in  way  of  pi-olcpitis  and  anticipation, 
u  they  call  it,  i.  e.,  U>  set  down  tilings  aforeliand  in  ilie  history 
which  many  years  happened  and  came  after  in  order  of  time ;  but 
there  is  no  such  (irolepsij  or  anticijiHtion  here,  (aa  our  adver- 
•aries  dream,)  so  that  whmi  God  is  siiid  to  sanciiiy  the  Sabbatb 
in  Genesis,  the  meaning  should  lie,  that  lliis  he  did  twenty-five 
bundred  years  after  the  creation,  for  litis  assertion  wants  all 
I  proofs  and  huih  no  other  prop  to  bear  it  up,  ihan  some  instances 
>  of  anticipations  in  other  places  of  Scriptui'c.     The  Jesuits,  from 
I   unwary  expressions  of  some  of  the  fathers,  tirsi  started 
answer,   whom   Gomarua   followed,  and   iifter    him   sundry 
Others  prelatically  minded  ;  but  Itivet,  Ames,  and  others  have 
acallered  this  mist  long  since,  and  theretbre  I  shall  leave  buMhis 
one  consideration  against  it,  vii^  that  throughout  all  the  Scrip- 
ture we  shall  not  6nd  one  prolep^^is,  but  that  the  history  is  evident 
and  apparently  false,  unless  we  do  acknowledge  a  prolepsis  and 
ftiitieipaiion  to  be  in  the  story ;  so  that  necessity  of  establishing 
tbu  truth  of  the  history  only  can  estahlish  the  truth  of  a  prolep- 
j   ais  in  the  history.     I  forbear  to  give  a  taste  thereof  by  any  par- 
[  t)''ular  instances,  but  leave  it  to  trial ;  but  in  this  place  idl^cd  of, 
(Gen.  ii.  2,)  can  any  say  that  the  elory  is  apparently  false  un- 
lesa  we  imagine  a  prolepfis !'  and  the  Sabbath  to  be  Srst  sanctified 
ta  Mount  Sinai,  (Bk.  xx.  ;)  for  might  not  (jiod  sanctify  )t  in 
paradiiie  as  soon  as  God's  rest,  the  cause  and  foundalioii'of  sanc- 
tifying of  it,  was  existing?    Will  any  suy,  with  Gomarus,  that  the 
Snbbaili  was  Uni  stiuciificd    (Ex.  xvi.)  because    God  blessed 
tb«m  so  much  the  day  before  with  manna,  wheoas  in  the  com-  - 
'  nwndment  ilMilf  (Ex.  xx.)  the  reason  of  it  is  plainly  set  down 
lo  be  God's  rusting  on  the  seventh  day,  and  Banciil'ying  uf  it 
I  fcmg  before? 

7%*m  167.     There  is  not  the  least  color  of  Scripture  to  make 

!   this  blessing  and  sanctifying  of  the  day  to  be  nothing  else  but 

Ood's  magnifying  and  liking  of  it  in  his  own  mind,  rejoicing  and 

ka  it  were  glorying  in  it,  when  he  had  rested  from  his  works; 

Bnd  yet  Sir.  Primrose  cu^ts  this  bloi-k  in  the  way  for  the  blind  to 

I  lUimbte  at,  supposing  that  there  should  be  no  such  anticipation  aa 

14  • 


1C2  THE    MORALITV    OF    TIIK    BABBATU. 

fae  pleads  for ;  for  snrfly,  if  God  blef^sed  and  sanctilied  the  day, 
it  wa»  n  ri'al  and  an  eHiictual  sanctifl cation  and  blessing;  but  this 
tnagnifyint:  und  giorjing  in  il,  in  God's  rainJ.  is  no  real  ihing  in 
,  t)i«  blessed  Gud,  he  having  no  suuh  affections  in  him,  but  what 
I  is  Bftiil  Ui  be  in  liini  that  viaj  is  ever  by  some  special  effects,  the 
.  simple  and  pure  essence  of  God  admitting  no  affections,  per  mo- 
I  dum  t^rcliu,  Ktd  fffeclut,  as  is  truly  and  commonly  mainlaiiied. 
\       TTtetii  168.     If  God  sanctified  and  commanded  Adam  to  sane- 
I  tify  the  Sabbath,  it  was  either  that  he  himself  should  observe  it 
personally,  or  successively  in  his  posterity  also.    Now,  there  is  no 
reason  to  think  that  this  i^  a  command  peculiarly  binding  Adam 
himself  only,  there  being  the  same  cause  for  his  posterity  to  ob- 
serve a  Sabbath  as  himsi;lf  liad,  whicli  was  God's  example  of 
Iftbor  and  rest ;  and  if  this  was  given  to  his  posterity  also,  then  it 
was  a  moral  duty,  and  not  a  (mint  of  mere  order  proper  lo  Adam 
to  attend  unto;  yet  Kir.  Primrose,  for  fear  lest  he  should  liwot 
short,  in  one  of  his  answers,  wherein  he  tells  us  that  it  did  dero- 
gate much  from  the  excellency  of  Adam's  condition  to  liare  any 
one  day  for  God  appointed  unio  him,  yet  here,  notwithstanding, 
'    be  IflUs  us,  that  if  Gud  hud  appointed  such  a  dny,  it  was  no  moral 
thing,  nor  yet  a  ceremony  directing  to  Christ,  but  only  as  a  point 
of  order  which  God  was  pleased  then  to  subject  him  unto ;  and 
that  a  man  may  as  well  conclude  that  it  was  a  moral  thing  lo 
serve  God  in   Eden   becaui^e   it  was  a  place  which   God  hud 
appointed  Adam  lo  serve  him  in,  as  the  seventh  day  lo  be  moral 
'  biicause  it  was  the  time  thereof:  but  this  assertion  is  but  a  mere 
itifierof ;  for  the  text  l«Ua  us  expressly,  that  God  did  both 
I  bless  and  sanctify  the  seventh  day  in  a  special  manner,  as  a  thing 
of  common  concernment,  but  is  never  said  to  bless  and  sani^tifj 
the  place  of  Eden.     All  men  in  Adam  were  made  in  the  image 
of  God,  and  was  there  but  one  thing  in  innocenny  wherein  God 
made  himself  eminently  exemplary  in  labor  and  rest  ?  and  shall 
we  think  that  that  one  thing  was  rather  a  point  of  order  pi^per 
to  Adam,  than  a  part  of  God's  image  common  to  all  ?     The  b|i- 
pointment  of  that  royal  seat  of  Eden  was  nn  act  of  heavenly 
bounty,  and  therefore  might  well  be  proper  to  him  in  that  estate  ; 
but  the  appointment  of  the  time  for  God's  special  honor  whs  an 
act  of  justice,  made  and  built  upon  a  rule  of  common  equity,  as 
may  appear  out  of  the  second  edition  of  this  law  in  the  Iburth 
*  uommandment,  and  therefore  might  well  be  morally  binding  unto 
all,  and  not  a  point  of  mere  order  only  for  Adam  lo  obsune. 

jyifM  16<).  If  Adam  hud  mood,  all  mankind  might,  and 
perhaps  should,  have  iiU'crved  that  particular  seventh  day  Ibr- 
«vet  on  earth.     But  look, as  Adam  observed  it  not  merely  because 


THB   MORALITT    OF   THE   SABBATH, 


tit  waa  that  seventh,  (a^  hnth  been  sliown.)  which  -wiu  but  second- 
uily,  aod  ns  il  were  arc iden tally  moral,  but  because  it  was  ibe 
seventh  day  appointed  of  Qod,  which  is  flrally  aod  primarily 
moral,  so,  although  we  now  Uo  not  observe  that  seventh  tlay 
which  Adam  did,  yet  the  substance  of  the  morality  of  this  cam- 
maud  given  unto  hitn  is  observed  ^till  hy  us,  in  observing  ihfl 
seventh  day  which  God  bath  appointed,  to  which  the  equity  of 
thiii  commaud  binds  generally  all  mankind ;  hence  therefore  it  is 
of  little  force  which  some  ulijecl,  that  if  the  commandment  to  man 
in  inuoceney  he  moral,  that  then  we  are  bound  to  observe  the 

taame  seventh  day  which  Adam  in  innocency  did.  This  is  oft  laid 
in  our  dUb ;  but  the  answer  is  easy  from  what  hath  been  said, 
'ntetU  170.  If  because  we  read  not  any  express  mention  ' 
that  tlie  patriarchs  Ix-fore  Muses'  time  did  sanctify  a  Sabbath, 
that  ihervfore  the  Sabbuih  was  not  eunctided  at  that  time,  we 
nay  as  wull  argue  that  it  was  not  observed  all  the  lime  of  the 
Jadgeis,  nor  of  the  hooks  of  Samuel,  because  no  express  men- 
tion is  made  in  those  books  of  any  such  thing;  for  if  it  be  said 
Ifaat  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  tbey  observed  it,  because  it  was 
published  on  Mount  Sinai,  the  like  we  may  my  concerning  the 
potriBPchnl  times,  who  had  such  a  famous  manifestion  of  God's 
mind  herein,  from  the  known  siory,  commandment,  and  example 
of  God  in  the  6r«t  creation.  (Geii.  ii.  2.)  It  is  not  said  express- 
ly ibat  Abram  kept  the  Sabbath,  but  he  is  commended  for  keep- 
iiig  God's  coiamandments,  (Gen.  zxvi.  3;)  and  is  not  the  S»b- 
buth  one  of  those  cummandmenis,  the  breach  of  which  is  ac- 
couiitcil  the  breaking  of  all?  {Ex.  xvi.  27.28;)  and  may  we 
bwfulty  and  charitably  think  that  Abram  neglected  other  mural 
duties,  because  they  are  not  expressly  mentioned  ?  Again :  it 
may  be  as  well  doubled  of,  whether  the  patriarchs  observed  any 
day  at  all.  (which  our  adversaries  confess  to  be  moral.)  because 
it  neither  is  expressly  mentioned.  Again:  it  may  be  said  with 
a*  Kood  reason,  that  the  riacriliees  wluch  they  offered  were 
without  warrant  from  God,  because  the  commandment  for  thern 
t*  not  pxpn'ssly  mentioned :  but  we  know  that  Abel  by  faith 
uffercil.  and  failh  must  arU«  from  a  precedent  word  ;  so  that,  as 
tlie  approved  practitie  of  holy  men  doib  necessarily  imply  a  coin- 
mnnJ,  so  iho  command  given  (as  hath  been  shown)  to  Adam 
dnth  as  nocvissarily  infer  a  practice.  Again  :  if  no  duties  to  God 
were  performed  hy  the  palriarcha,  but  such  as  are  expressly 
meniionct]  and  held  forth  in  their  examples,  we  should  then  be- 
huM  a  uran^  face  of  a  chunb  for  many  hundred  years  together, 
and  necessarily  condemn  the  generation  of  the  just  for  living 
in  groM  neglects  and  impieiicx,  there  being  many  singular  and 


L. 


I 


I 


lC-1  THE    UORALITY    OF    1 

Special  Julie*  wliich  doubtless  were  ilone  that  were  not  meet  par- 
tieuiarly  lu  be  menciuned  in  that  short  epilotne  of  above  two  thou- 
sand years  togellier,  in  llie  bool(  of  Genesis  i  and  therefore  for 
Mr.  Ironside  and  Primrose  to  conclude  tbat  Ibe  keeping  of  the 
Sabbath  had  certainly  been  mentioned  if  it  had  twen  observed, 
is  very  unsound,  llr.  Primrose  thinks  tliaf,  if  the  Sabbath  had 
been  observed,  it  Iiad  been  iIicd  mentioned,  because  lesser  tilings 
than  the  Sabbaih  are  made  mention  of,  there  being  also  i'reqaent 
occasion  to  sjieak  of  the  Sabbath,  and  that  Moses  and  the 
prophets  woiiltl  have  pressed  the  observation  of  it  from  the 
palriarelis'  example  if  thej  had  ao  practiced.  But  what  is  this 
kind  of  arguing  but  to  teach  the  Holy  Ghost  what,  and  when, 
and  how  lo  speak  ?  For  there  be  many  lesser  matters  expressed 
in  many  other  historical  parts  of  tbe  Scripture,  and  good  occa- 
sion as  man  may  fancy  to  speak  of  thij,  Sabbaih,  and  yet  we  see  it 
is  iinssed  by  in  silence.  But  it  is  no  wonder,  if  he  who  questions 
whether  there  were  any  days  of.  fasting  and  prayer  fur  two 
thousand  years  together,  because  ihey  arc  not  expressly  men- 
tioned, if  that  he  doubts  also  whether  there  were  any  Sabbath 
all  thai  time,  upon  the  same  ground.  But  can  any  question  that 
considers  the  sorrows  of  those  liiues,  which  all  ages  have  put 
men  to  seek  God  in  such  duties,  but  that  they  had  such  days  of 
fiisling,  as  well  as  their  betters  in  evangelical  limes,  when  the 
Bridegroom  was  gone  ? 

27iciit  171.  It  is  not  improbable  but  that  the  sacrifices  of 
Cain  and  Abel  (Gen.  iv.  3)  were  upon  the  Sabbaih  day,  Ibe 
usual  Elated  lime  then  for  such  services;  for  that  which  our 
translation  renders,  ''in  process  of  time,"  the  Hebrew  calls  it 
B'STi  in:,  i.  e.,  "  the  end  of  days ; "  and  why  may  not  this  be 
the  end  of  the  days  of  the  week,  (a  known  division  of  time,  and 
most  famous  from  the  beginning  of  tiie  world,  as  Bivet  demon- 
strates out  of  the  best  antiquaries,)  rather  than  at  the  end  of  the 
monibs  of  llie  year?  But  it  is  not  good  to  wrestle  with  prolm- 
hilities,  of  which  many  are  given,  which  do  ntthcr  darken  than 
clear  up  this  cause.  This  only  may  be  added,  ihal  suppose  the 
patriarchs  observed  no  Sabbath  from  man's  fall  to  Moses'  lime, 
yet  it  will  not  follow  that  man  in  innocency  was  a  stranger  to  it, 
because  man  in  his  apostasy  forgot,  or  did  not  regard  to  keep  it. 

TTietii  172.  If,  lliereforc,  it  was  a  duty  which  Adam  and  hia 
posterity  were  bound  to  keep  by  a  law  given  Ihem  in  innocency, 
(tjen  it  undeniably  follows  that  the  observance  of  a  Sabbath  doth 
not  depend  u[ion  great  numbers  of  people  to  sanctify  it;  for  at  first 
creation  the  number  was  hut  two,  and  yet  they  both  were  bound 
to  observe  it  then ;  nor  yet  is  it  to  be  cast  aside  through  any 


mftn's  freedom  from  worldly  eiicumbnuices,  whereliy  be  hath 
liberty  lo  serve  God  more  I'ruquently  evury  day;  Ibr  ilius  it  vrns 
Also  Id  the  slate  of  innoceiicy,  and  yet  the  Sabbath  to  be  observcil 
*;  is  therefore  unsound,  whicli  Mr.  Primrose  uflii-ms 
nz.,  That  tlie  consecration  of  a  certain  dny  for  GoA'i 
a  not  necessary,  but  then  only,  when  many  troop  to- 
gether and  make  up  tbe  body  of  a  great  assembly ;  and  that  tjiere- 
fore  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  patriarchs,  having  but  small 
families  and  little  cumber,  observed  any  Sabbath,  but  rather 
served  God  alike  every  day  with  great  ease  and  ajuiduity  ; 
and  therefore  there  was  no  need  nor  cause  of  a  Sabbath  till 
they  became  a  numerous  people  at  Mount  Sin4i.  But  beside 
what  hath  been  said,  how  will  it  appear  that  the  posterity  of 
Seth,  called  the  sons  of  God,  (Gen.  vi.  1,  2.)  were  not  a  numer- 
ous people  ?  or  that  Abraham's  family  was  so  small,  out  of 
which  be  could  gather  three  hundred  fighting  men  to  pursue  five 
mighty  prinees  in  buttle  ?  But  suppose  they  were  few ;  yet  have 
not  small  eompanies,  and  pariieular  persons,  as  much  need  of  the 
blessing  of  a  Sabbalh,  and  special  communion  with  God  therein,  as 
great  numbers  aud  troops  of  people  ?  Is  not  the  observation  of 
the  Sabbath  built  upon  better  and  surer  grounds  mentioned  in 
the  Scripture  (ban  bigness  of  number,  and  freedom  from  cum- 
bers, not  mentioned  at  ^1  ? 

TTietit  173.  K  Adam's  fall  was  before  the  Sabbath,  {as  Mr. 
Broad  and  wmie  others,  otherwise  orthodox  in  this  point  of  the 
Stibbath,  conceive,  by  loo  much  inconsiderate  wresting  of  Ps, 
xlix.  12,  John  viii.  44,}  yet  it  will  not  hence  fallow  that  he  had 
no  such  command  in  innoeency  lo  observe  the  Sabbalh  before 
his  fall.  For  whether  man  had  fallen  or  no,  yet  the  thing  itself 
speaks  that  God  was  determined  to  work  six  days  in  making  the 
world,  and  to  rest  and  so  lo  sanctify  the  seventh,  that  he  might 
therein  be  exemplary  lo  man ;  and  consequently  God  would 
have  given  this  law,  and  it  should  have  been  a  rule  to  him 
whether  he  fell  or  no;  and  indeed  the  seventh  day's  rest  depends 
no  more  upon  man's  fall  than  the  six  days'  work  of  creation, 
whii^h  we  see  were  all  finished  before  the  fall ;  the  seventh  day's 
holiness  being  more  suitable  to  that  state  tlian  the  six  days' 
labor,  lo  whicli  we  see  he  wus  appointed,  if  God's  example  liad 
any  force  to  direct  and  lead  him  thereunto.  Agtuu :  if  the  law 
of  kibor  was  writ  upon  his  heart  before  he  was  actually  called 
forth  to  labor,  viz.,  to  dress  and  keep  the  garden,  (Gen.  ii.  15,) 
why  might  not  also  the  law  of  holy  rc^I  be  revealed  unto  him 
by  God,  and  so  anawerably  writ  upon  his  heart  before  he  fell. 
or  came  actually  to  rest  upon  tlie  Sabbalh  ?     Little  of  Adam's 


1G6  THE   MOBALITV   Of   THE   SAlitlATII. 

universal  obedience  lo  llio  law  of  wniks.was  ns  yet  actual  while 
lid  reinnincd  innocent ;  and  yei  all  liia  obedience  in  time  to  come 
was  writ  upon  liis  heart  ihu  fir^t  moment  of  his  crention  in  llie 
image  of  God,  as  it  were  nforchand ;  and  wliy  mipltt  not  this  law 
of  the  Sublinth  be  writ  eo  aforelitind  ?  AiiU  therefore  Mr.  Broad 
need  not  trouble  himself  or  olhers  in  inquiring  whether  God  sanc- 
tified tiie  Satibaili  tiefore  or  nfier  tlie  first  aeveotli  day  wliereia 
God  rested  ;  and  if  liefore  it,  bow  Adam  «>uld  know  uf  tiie  Sab- 
bath before  God'3  complete  rest  upon  the  first  seventh  day,  the 
cause  of  it.  For  God  was  as  well  able  to  make  Adam  privy 
to  Ills  counsel  aforehand  <»nceming  that  day,  before  God's  rest 
en  it,  which  was  a  motive  to  the  observance  of  it,  as  he  was  to 
acquaint  his  people  with  his  purpose  for  a  holy  passover  before 
the  occasion  of  it  fell  out.  Mr.  Broad  indeed  tells  us,  that  ii  is 
most  probable  that  God  did  not  bless  and  sanctify  the  first  Sab- 
bath or  seventh  day  of  recit,  because  it  is  not  said  that  God 
blessed  the  Sabbath  because  he  would,  but  because  be  had  rest- 
ed in  it ;  but  by  hb  leave  it  is  most  proper  to  say,  that  God 
ut  the  end  of  the  six  days'  work  bod  then  rested  from  all  iiis 
works ;  and  thence  God  is  said  to  sanctify  and  rest  the  seventh 
day;  bis  cessation  from  work,  which  is  the  natural  rest,  being  the 
cause  of  resting  the  seventh  day  with  a  holy  rest,  (as  we  have 
shown;)  and  therefore  there  is  no  reason  to  slay  till  the  seventh 
day  was  past,  and  then  to  sauclify  it  against  the  oext  seventh  day ; 
the  first  seventh  day,  upon  the  grouud  mentioned,  being  first 
sanctified,  and  which  Adam  might  be  well  enough  acquainted 
with  aforehand,  as  hath  been  shown. 

37ietii  174.  If  the  Scriptures  may  he  judge  of  the  time  of 
man's  fall,  (whii-h  yet  is  not  momentous  to  cast  the  balance  either 
way  in  this  controversy,)  it  will  he  found  that  neitlier  angeLs  nor 
men  did  fall  the  sixth  day  before  the  Sabbath ;  for  then  Grod 
looked  upon  all  his  works,  and  they  were  very  good,  (Gen.  i.  31,) 
and  tlierefore  could  not  as  yet  he  bad  and  evil  by  any  sin  or 
fall ;  and  now,  because  it  is  more  than  probable  that  if  Adnm 
liad  completely  sanctified  and  stood  one  Sabbath,  lie  had  stood 
immutably,  as  I  think  miglit  bo  demonstrated,  be  therefore  not 
standing  a  whole  seventh  day,  for  then  he  could  not  have  fallen, 
and  yet  not  being  fallen  the  sixth  day,  he  therefore  fell  upon  the 
Sabbath  day,  that  as  the  breach  of  every  other  commnod  was 
wrapped  up  in  that  first  sin,  so  tbis  of  the  Sabbath.  The  objec- 
tiona  against  this  from  John  viii.  44,  that  Satan  was  a  murderer  ' 
from  the  heginiirng,  and  from  Ps.  alix.  12,  thai  man  in  honor 
did  not  •\-^if,  or  abide  ooe  night  in  that  estate,  with  some  other 
coiyectural  reasons  taken  from  some  of  tlie  schoolmen's  obs  and 


Till;   Ml): 


1G7 


Pnls,  are   easily  ansncreU  by  n  seriouB  mid  sober  mind;  and 
I  therefore  I  leave  llieui. 

T^etit  173.     Adujn's  soul,  !>»y  some,  did  not  need  a  Sabbalh, 
r  because  every  day  waa  a  Sablmlli  lo  liim  ;  nor  did  his  body  need 
r  it,  because  it  was  impassible,  say  some,  noi*  subject  lo  weariness 
in  its  work,  »ay  others  truly.     To  what  purjwse,  then,  shoulil 
i  kny  Sabbalh  be  appointed  uiiio  him   in  ihat  estate?     But  we 
I   must  know,  that  the  Hebrew  word  for  Sabbath  signifies  holy  ml, 
I  aiid'tlierefore,  as  Rivet  well  showti,  it  is  .called  rca,  not  nm:o, 
Matuekah,  whieh  signifies  common  rest  from  wearines!>;  henre 
it  follows,  that  the  Sabbalh  being  originally  sanctiHed  for  holy 
rest,  not  fur  common  rcat,  or  rest  from  natural  weariness  in 
labor,  Adam  iniglit  therefore  stand  in  need  of  a  Sabbath,  though 
bis  body  was  not  subject  to  any  weariness  in  or  &ii»r  his  labor- 
Hence,  also,  nlihough  he  was  to  live  holily  every  day,  yet  this 
liindera  not  but  that  his  soul  might  then  have  need  of  the  holy 
of  a  tjabbath.     For,  1.  Adam  was  to  serve  God  in  a  par* 
ticuliir  calling  then,  as  is  manifest  from  Gen.  ii.  15;  for  he  was 
iben  to  keep  and  drcsi  ihe  garden,  and  lo  act  with  and  under 
Cod  in  the  government  of  many  inferior  creatures.   (Gen.  i.  26.) 
'  And  thus,  his  time  being  filled  in  serving  God  with  all  holiness 
i  in  his  calling,  he  might  need  a  Sabbalh  i  nor  was  it  lawful  for 
him  to  turn  days  of  work  in  his  culling  into  days  of  rest,  and  so' 
to  keep  a  Sabbath  every  day,  no,  nut  in  iliat  innocent  and  happy 
etiote;  for  if  it  was  ctfntniry  lo  Adam's  holy  estate  to  work  six 
days,  how  eould  it  be  agreeable  or  suitable  to  tlie  holiness  of  God 
Ui  work  sis  days  ?     If  God  did  htbor  six  days,  and  resied  a  sev- 
tiith  without  any  need  of  a  rest  in  resgiect  of  any  weariness  in  his 
work,  why  might  not,  nay,  why  shonld  not,  man  imitate  and  bs 
like  In  his  God  in  latxir  and  rest,  although  he  was  not  subject  to 
any  weariness  in  his  holy  work  ?     2.  Though  every  day  was  to 
be  spent  in  holiness  mediately,  both  in  seeing  God  in  the  creti- 
(uree,  and  meeting  with  God  in  his  labor  and  calling,  yet  it  was 
Itot  unsuitable,  nay,  it  was  very  needful  in  that  e«liiie  to  havo  one 
day  in  the  week  for  more  immediate  and  special  converse  with 
I  trod,  and  for  God  mure  immediately  and  8[>ecially  lo  converge 
with  hiu.     Xur  indeed  Was  it  suitable  lo  God's  wisdom  to  con- 
fine man's  holiness,  cilher  then  or  now.  either  to  holy  labor  only, 
or  U)  holy  rest  only ;  for  then  he  should  not  have  been  so  like  unto 
Uod,  who  was  cxemplnrily  holy  unto  man  in  lioih.     Special  time. 
lor  action  wherein  he  closed  with  G(k1  mure  mediately  llirough' 
It  the  aix  days'  labor,  might  well  stand  with  special  time  Cor 
Kitemplaiion  of  God  upon  the  Sabbalh,  wherein  he  was  to  et^oy 
lOodmore  immediately.     Adam  did  not  need  a  Sabbath  upon  the 


lUS  TIIK   MOBAI-ITY   OK   THE   SADBATU. 

same  ground  of  wcakneBs  thnt  we  do.  viz.,  because  we  can  not  be 
earnest  enough  (aa  Mr.  Primrose  objects)  in  holy  services  to 
God  upon  the  week  daya ;  but  we  see  it  did  not  suit  God's  wiitdora 
Dor  man's  holy  estate  then  to  be  intent  and  earnest  only  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  rest,  to  which  his  inieniion  on  his  calling  and 
labor  then  could  not  be  any  liinderance  when  the  Sabbath  came  i 
being  free  from  such  clogs  of  sin  then,  an  we  are  now  pressed 
down  withal ;  and  therefore  it  is  on  unworthy  expression,  but  otl 
used  by  the  same  author  and  others,  viz.,  that  it  did  derogate 
from  the  excellency  of  Adam's  condition  to  observe  a  seventh 
day's  Sabbath,  and  that  the  determination  of  a  lime  then  did' 
argue  Adam's  inability,  or  want  of  inclination  and  atTcclion,  to 
serve  God  ordinarily,  and  that  the  observance  of  a  Sabbath  is  a 
mark  of  a  servile  condition,  (is  of  other  holy  days  under  tlie  law ; 
and  that  if  Adam  was  able  to  serve  Giod  continually,  that  it  was 
then  needless  to  limit  bim  to  a  particular  day ;  and  tliat  if  a  day 
were  needful,  Goil  would  have  left  the  choice  thereof  lo  his  own 
freedom,  considering  the  wisdom  and  godliness  wherewith  God 
had  endowed  him.  These  and  such  like  expressions  are  but  hay 
and  stubble,  which  the  light  of  the  truth  delivered  may  easily 

Tiesii  176.  It  is  true,  the  saints  and  angels  in  heaven  have 
no  set  Sabbalh  ;  but  doth  it  ihcrelbre  follow  that  the  state  of  in- 
noccncy  on  earth  should  have  been  in  all  tilings  like  (and  par- 
ticularly in  Ibis)  lo  the  slate  of  glory  in  heaven  ?  No  sudt 
matter ;  for  should  there  have  been  no  marriage,  no  dressing  of 
ibe  garden,  no  day  nor  night,  etc..  in  paradise,  because  there  is 
no  marriage,  nor  dressing  of  gardens,  nor  weeks,  nor  reckonings 
of  day  and  night,  in  heaven  ?  If  God  hath  work  for  Adam  to  do, 
not  only  upon  the  Sabbath,  but  upon  the  week  dnys  nbo,  why 
might  he  not  be  said  lo  glorify  God  without  stint  or  ceasing,  as 
the  angels  do  in  heaven?  unless  Mr.  Primrose  will  say,  that 
Adam's  marriage  and  dressing  the  garden  was  a  stinting  and 
ceasing  from  glorifying  God,  which  either  he  must  afflrm,  or  else 
_  his  argument  falls  Hat  upon  all  four,  who  thinks  that  Adam  could 
not  have  any  set  day  for  a  Sabbath,  because  then  he  should  not 
be  like  the  saints  and  angels  in  heaven,  who  glorify  God  con- 
tinually without  stint  or  ceasing. 

TTiegit  177.  They  fhat  think  that  the  Subbnth  was  not  given 
to  Adam,  because  it  was  given  as  a  peculiar  prerogative  and 
privilege  to  tlie  Jews,  and  ihey  that  think  that  it  was  the  Jews' 
prerogative  and  privilege  because  of  such  scriptures  as  atfirm 
that  God  gave  unto  (hem  his  Sabbaih,  (Ex.  xvi.  211 ;  Neh.  ix. 
14;  Ezek.  xx.   12.)  and  such  like,  they  may  as  well  imagine 


I  THE   JlORALITi;    Ol'  THE    OABUATII.  1 

tlist  neitlier  the  whole  dccnlogiiu  nor  any  pari  of  it  did  belong  to 
Adam,  because  the  very  same  thing  is  aflii-mGil  of  it,  viz.,  tliat  he 
give  his  laws  to  Jacob,  his  statutes  iind judgments  to  Israel.  (Ps. 
edvii.  10.)  To  them  aim,  il  is  said,  were  voramitted  the  oracles 
vf  God.  (Ilom.  iii.  2.)  The  Sabbath  llierefore  h  not  said  to  be 
^ven  to  them  as  a  peculiar  propriety  to  tlie  Jews,  no  more  than 
flther  parts  of  the  decalogue,  but  as  a  special  mercy,  yea,  as  a 
•weeler  mercy  in  some  respect  than  the  giving  of  any  other  laws, 
tt  U'-ing  the  sweetest  mercy  upon  earth  to  real  in  the  bosom  of 
God,  (which  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  calls  to,)  and  to  know  that 
it  is  our  heavenly  Father's  mind  that  we  should  do  so  ujwn  every 
Sabbath  day  in  a  special  manner,  without  the  knowledge  of 
which  law  we  have  less  light  of  nature  to  hold  the  candle  to  us 
lo  the  observance  of  it,  than  from  any  other  laws  to  direct  us  to 
^_l    Uie  obedience  of  them.  .^ 

^L  ?%«m  17S.  Il  is  alBnneil  (but  unwarily)  by  »ome,  that  the^ 
^^m  tree  of  life  in  paradise  was  a  type  of  Christ;  and  thence  some 
^^L  vould  infer,  that  it  was  not  unsuitable  lo  Adam's  estate  and  con- 
^^1  4iliuu  in  innoccncy  to  be  taught  by  types,  and  that  the  Sabbath 
^^M  ^glil  iherefure  be  ceremonial,  supposing  that  it  was  observed  by 
^H  Adam  in  his  innocent  estate ;  but  although  the  tree  of  life,  and 
^^P  Kindry  oilier  things  in  paradise,  arc  made  similitudes,  lo  set  forth 
^B,'  Christ  Je$us  in  his  church,  by  iIjc  H»ly  Ghost,  (Uev.  xxii.,)  yet 
^H  It  is  a  gross  mistake,  and  most  absurdttojuake  every  metajibor, 
^^K  or  similitude  and  allusion,  to  be  as^pej  for  the  husbandman 
^Haowiog  of  the  seed  is  a  similitude  dpre  aching  of  the  word, 
^V  (Matt,  liii.,)  and  yet  it  is  no  type  of  it ;  an  affectionate  lover  and 
^H  kosband  is,  in  sundry  scriptures,  a  similitude  and  resemblance 
^H  vf  Christ's  affection  and  love  to  his  church  and  spouse ;  the  head 
^H  ■nd  members  of  man's  body  are  similitudes  of  Christ  the  head, 
^B  ud  the  church  bis  members :  but  will  any  affirm  that  these  are 
^H  also  ty|>es  of  Cliriet  ?  And  just  thus  was  paradise  and  the  tree 
^M  «f  life  if]  it.  Tbey  were  simililudes  lo  which  the  Holy  Gbost 
^V  alludes  in  making  mention  of  Christ  and  his  church,  but  they  were 
^H  M  types  of  them ;  tlierc  was  lypiufietiu  in  them,  or  arbftrariut, 
^B  (which  is  all  one  with  a  similitude,)  but  there  was  no  lyptu  dt»- 
^B,  linatitt  therein,  being  never  purposely  ordained  to  shadow  out 
^B  Cbiist :  for  ibe  covenant  of  works,  by  which  Adam  was  to  live,  is 
^B-  directly  contrary  (o  the  covenant  of  grace  by  faith  iu  Christ, 

iRom.  xi.  6.)  by  which  wc  arc  to  live.  Christ  is  revealed  only 
^^  I  itie  covenant  of  grace,  and  therefore  could  not  be  so  revealed 
^M  to  tlie  covenant  of  works  directly  conlrary  thereunto.  Aduiu 
^V  tlicrcforc  was  not  capable  of  any  types  then  to  reveal  Christ  lu 
^B  fciin ;  of  whom  the  first  covenant  nui  not  speak,  aod  of  whom 
■  Vui..  ui. '  10 


I 


i 


1(0  THE   MUKALITY    OF  THE  g&UHATH. 

,  Adam  slood  in  no  need  s  no.  not  so  much  as  to  confirm  him  in  lliat 
estate ;  for  (wiih  leave)  I  iliink  iliat.  look,  as  Adiim  breaking  the 
first  povL-nanl  by  sin,  he  is  become  immutably  evil  and  miserable 
in  himself,  according  to  llie  nilc  of  justice  in  that  covenant,  so 

I  suppose  him  to  have  kept  that  covenant,  all  his  posterity  had 
been  immutably  happy  and  holy,  (not  merely  by  grace,)  but  by 

I  the  same  equity  and  justice  of  thai  first  covenant;  and  henee  it 
follows,  thai  be  Blood  in  no  need  of  Christ,  or  any  revelation  of 
him  by  types ;  no,  not  to  confirm  him  in  that  covenant.  1  know,  in 
some  sense,  whatever  God  communicaies  to  his  creature  in  way 
of  justice  may  be  said  to  be  conveyed  in  a  way  of  grace,  if  grace 
he  taken  largely  for  that  which  is  conveyed  out  of  (jod's  free  will 
and  good  pleasure,  as  all  things  in  the  world  are,  even  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  that  wherein  there  is  most  merit,  and  that  is  Christ's 
death  and  satisfaction  for  sin  :  bat_th[s  is  but  to  play  with  words ; 
for  it  is  clear  enough  by  the  apostle^verdict,  thatgrace"stnctly 
takeil  is  opposite  to  works,  (Rom.  ni.  6;)  the  law  of  works 
which  only  reveals  doing  and  life,  to  the  law  of  faith  which  only 
reveals  Christ  and  life ;  under  which  covenant  of  grace  Adam 
was  not,  and  therefore  had  no  types  then  to  shadow  out  Chritit. 
TjLSayjhai  paradise  and  the  tree  of  life  wej^.  tjp^  bj  yay  of 
an!ic^)aliorul[iisl-wme  lately  af!irm,)  is  as  much  as  to  say  that 
they  were  not  types  then ;  and  llierefore  neither  these  nor  the 
Sabbath  were  ceremonial  then,  and  that  is  euSicient  for  what  we 
aim  at;  only  it  is  observable,  that  this  unsound  expression  leads 
into  more  palpable  errors ;  for  as  they  make  the  tree  of  life 
typical  by  anticipation,  so  they  make  the  marriage  of  Adam  and 
Kvc,  and  consequently  the  marriage  of  all  mankind,  typical;  and 
then  why  should  not  all  marriages  cease,  when  Christ,  the  Anti- 

I  type,  is  come?  Nay,  they  make  the  rivers,  and  precious  stones, 
and  gold  in  paradise,  thus  typicalof  Christ  and  his  church,  (Rev. 
xxi.;)and  ihenwhymay  they  not  make'the  angels  in  heaven 
typical,  because  men  on  earth  who  pour  out  the  vials  are  re- 
sembled to  them  ?  And  why  may  not  men  riding  upon  while 
horses  be  typical,  because  Christ  is  so  resembled?  (Rev.  xix.  1 1.) 
Pererius,  who  collects  out  of  Hugo  de  Vict,  a  type  of  llie  whole 
.new  creation,  in  all  the  works  of  six  days'  first  creation,  may 
please  himself  (as  other  Popish  proctors  dol  with  such  like  shady 
speculations  and  phantasms,  and  so  bring  m  the  seventh  day  for 
company  to  be  typical  also ;  but  a  good  and  healthful  stomach 
should  be  exeueiling  fearful  of  a  little  feeding  on  such  windy 
meat  1  nor  do  1  think  that  Hugo's  new  creation  is  any  more  anli- 
typical  to  the  tirst  six  days"  creation  than  Damascene's  types  in 
the  fourth  commandment,  wha  makes  thou,  thy  son,  thy  daughter, 


i 


I 


TUE   UURALlTt    OP   TUtt   3AB&ATU. 


171 

thy  Eervnni,  the  stranger,  to  be  types  of  our  sinful  afFecUons 
of  spirit,  and  the  oslinil  ihe  ass  ligures  of  (he  flesh  nnd  sensual 
part,  boih  whieh  he  saith  must  rest  upon  llie  Snbbnth  day. 

TXrm  179.  If  Ihertfore  the  Sabbath  was  given  to  Adam  in 
innocently  before  all  types,  nay,  before  the  lea^t  promise  of 
Chridf,  whom  Bueh  types  must  shadow  forth,  then  it  ean  not  be 
in  ite  first  and  native  institution  typical  and  ceremonial,  but 
ttionU  ;  and  therefore  in  its  first  and  original  institution,  of  which 
we  spt-nk,  it  did  not  lypily  either  our  rest  in  Christ  from  sin  in 
this  life,  or  our  rest  with  God  in  heaven  in  another  life,  or  any  , 
other  imagined  rest  which  man's  wit  can  easily  invent  and  invest 
the  Sabbath  wiifi.  But  look,  as  our  Saviour,  in  reforming  ihe 
abuses  in  marriage,  calls  us  to  the  first  institution,  so  to  know 
what  is  pcrjietual  in  the  Sabbath,  it  is  most  safe  to  have  recourse 
kilber,  which,  when  it  was  first  observed,  we  see  was  no  way 
typical,  but  moral ;  and  if  man  no  way  clogged  with  sin  and 
Mrth  had  ihen  need  of  a  Subhath,  haVe  not  we  much  more  ? 

Thetii  181).  As,  before  the  fall,  the  Sabbath  was  originally 
and  essentially  moral,  so  after  the  fall  it  became  accidentally  . 
typical :  i.  e.,  it  had  a  type  affixed  to  it,  though  of  its  own  nature 
it  m-ilb«r  was  nor  ia  any  type  at  all.  God  atHxed  a  farther  end 
unto  it  after  the  fall,  to  be  of  further  use  to  type  out  somewhat 
to  God*s  people,  while  in  the  substance  of  it  it  remaineth  moral ; 
and  hence  it  is  ttiat  a  seventh  day  remains  moral,  and  to  be  ob- 
served, but  not  that  seventh  day  which  was  formerly  kept ;  nor 
lisve  we  that  enil  of  resting  which  was  under  the  law,  but  this 
end  only,  [hat  we  might  more  immediately  and  specially  converse 
witli  Uod,  which  wus  the  miun  end  of  the  Sabbath's  rest  before 
man's  fall ;  for  if  the  Sabbath  had  been  essentially  typical,  then 
i(  should  be  abolished  wholly,  and  no  more  remembrance  of  it 
than  of  new  moons  anj  jubilees ;  but  because  it  was  for  substance 
moral,  being  extant  before  the  fall,  and  y<;t  had  a  type  af&xcd  to 
it  aflcr  the  liill,  hence  a  seventh  day  is  still  preserved,  but  that 
Mventh  day  is  now  abolished  ;  and  hence  new  moons  and  other 
JewiAli  festivals,  as  they  are  wholly  ceremonial  in  their  birth,  so 
tbey  are  wholly  abolished  (without  any  change  of  them  into  other 
days,  OS  this  of  the  Sabbath  i»)  in  their  very  being. 

Titttt  IHl.  There  are  sundry  scriptures  alleged  to  prove 
tJie  Sabbath  to  be  typitml  and  ceremoniiO,  out  of  the  Old  nnd 
New  TusUmeni,  as  Is.  Ixvt.  -23;  GaL  iv.  10;  Uom.  xiv.4,.0; 
Cot.  ii.  Ifi;  but  if  we  suppo.<e  tlmt  thc«e  phtces  be  meant  of  the 
weekly  Sabljaih,  (whicli  some  deny,)  and  rigiilly  urge  them,  we 
inay  quickly  pre.s$  bloud  instead  of  milk  out  uf  them,  and  wholly 
aboliaii  (aa  Wullwus  well  observes)  the  obKrvalion  of  any  Chris- 


172  THE    aiOltALITI    OF    JHE    SABBATH. 

tian  RabLaih  ;  bill  lliis  one  conBiileralion  of  a  type  affixed  to  it 
to  make  it  so  far  forth  ceremonial,  aiid  lliere'fore  alterable,  which 
for  subalnnce  ia  moral,  may  be  as  a  riglit  thread  to  lead  us  into 
a  way  of  truth  io  this  great  controt'eray,  and  to  untie  many  knota 
wliieh  I  see  not  how  poasibly  lliey  ean  be  otherwise  unloosed, 
and  therefore  we  may  safely  say  that  that  seventh  day  is  abol- 
ished, because  it  batb  a  type  affixed  to  it ;  but  that  a  seventh 
day's  Sabbath  is  still  continued  wherein  there  is  no  type  at  all. 

TTiesu  182.  If  any  say.  Why  was  now  the  ceremony  afRxed, 
washed  off",  and  removed  after  Christ's  coming,  and  so  thnt  sevoiith 
day  still  continued,  as  we  see  ))ublic  prayer  is  still  used,  but  tbe 
type  of  incense  removed,  and  tbe  first  bom  still  retain  that 
which  is  moral,  the  type  at^ed  to  them  being  now  abolished  ? 
the  reason  of  this  is,  because  there  ia  a  necessity  of  the  being 
of  both,  both  prayer  and  first  bom  ;  for  public  prayer  must  be, 
and  first  bom  must  be,  and  they  can  not  be  changed  into  any 
other  ;  but  there  was  no  necessity  of  the  continuance  of  thai  first 
seventh  day  to  be  the  Sabbath  ;  nay,  there  was  some  cause  to 
change  it,  and  another  day  might  be  our  Sabbath  as  well  as  that 
fii-st.  Look,  therefore,  as  the  Lord  coutd  have  kept  the  temple 
at  Jcrusidem  merely  as  a  plaoe  of  worship,  which  at  this  day  in 
the  general  is  necessary,  and  have  washed  and  wiped  off  tbe 
typical  use  of  it  in  respect  of  Christ,  yet  the  wisdom  of  tbe  Lord 
abolished  the  very  being  of  the  temple,  because  that  place  might 
be  as  well  changed  into  another,  and  lest  through  the  typicalnesa 
of  it  man's  corrupt  heart  should  abuse  it,  so  1  may  say,  concern- 
ing the  Sabbath,  it  did  not  suit  witJ)  the  wisdom  of  God  to  wipe 
off  the  ceremony  atfixed  to  that  seventh  day,  when  it  might  well 
be  changed,  and  so  kee]i  that  day,  considering  how  apt  men's  cer- 
emonious  and  superstitious  hearts  are  to  abuse  such  times  or 
places,  unless  the  very  types  be  abolished .vrith  the  things  them- 

Thcth  183.  It  is  true  the  Sabbath  is  called  a  sign  between 
God  and  us,  (Ex.  xxxi.  13;  Ezek.  xx.  20;)  but  it  doth  not  follow 
that  therefore  it  is  originally  significative  and  typical,  for  it  may 
be  only  accidenlully  so,  by  reason  of  a  type  and  sign  affixed ;  yet, 
upon  narrow  search  of  this  place  so  much  stood  upon,  no  type 
at  all  can  hence  be  proved,  because  a  sign  ia  mentioned  ;  for  it 
is  not  necessary  Io  think  that  It  is  a  typical  and  sacraoiental  sign, 
as  circumcision  and  the  passovcr  were ;  for  it  might  he  only  an 
indicant  sign  and  declarative,  (as  Num.  xvi.  36,  and  xvii.  10,) 
and  as  tbe  fruits  of  God's  regenerating  Spirit  are  signs  of  our 
translniion  from  death  to  life,  (I  John  iii.  14,)  which  signs  still 
continue ;  and  if  it  be  such  a  sign,  it  t>  rather  a  strong  arfuraent 


173 


I  for  the  continuance  of  tUe  Sabbatb,  iban  for  any  abolition  or 
chan>re  lher«of. 

~"  r  184.  The  Sahbalh  beinp  no  visible  sign  of  invisilile 
1  KTace,  it  can  not  ihcrcrere  be  any  sacramental  sign,  or  typical; 
I  U  is  therefore  an  indicant  and  declarnlire  «ign  of  our  communion 
vilh  God,  and  God  willi  us,  of  our  interest  in  bim,  and  of  his  in 
is:  and  therefore  ui  those  places  (Es.  xxxi.  13. and  Ezek.  xx.  20) 
^  where  it  is  called  a  sign,  it  b  not  made  a  sign  simply  and  naked- 
'  ly  considered  in  itself,  (as  all  sucrameniul  and  typical  ei^ia 
I  be,)  but  it  is  so  called  in  respect  of  our  keeping  of  it,  or  as  it  is 
obeerTed  and  kept ;  and  therefore  it  runs  in  way  of  promise. 
(Ksek.  xs.  20.)  If  ye  hallow  ray  Sablmlbs,  tliey  shall  then  be 
a  sign  between  me  and  yon,  and  you  shall  know  (hereby)  that 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God  ;  and  although  the  Sabbath  itself  he 
called  a  sign,  (Ex.  xxxi.,)  yet  it  is  explained  (ver.  13)  to  be  such 
a  sign  as  to  know  hereby  that  the  Lord  our  God  sanctifies  ns, 
and  in  Ezek.  xx.  20,  that  we  may  know  hereby  that  he  is  the 
Iiord  our  God  ;  for  we  know  he  is  tlie  Lord  our  God  if  he 
isnclifies  us,  and  that  we  are  Ina  people  if  we  sanclify,  or  bo 
sanctified  of  him  ;  and  in  this  respect  it  becomes  not  only  a  sign, 
bat  a  rooluad  sign  between  God  and  us,  and  in  no  other  respect, 
{as  Walleeus  would  stretch  it;)  and  hence  it  is,  that  whoever 
makes  a  conscience  of  sanctifying  the  Sabhaih  aright,  shull  not 
long  want  assurance  of  God's  love,  hy  this  blessed  sign. 

Thetit  185.     What  ty|ie  should  be  afiixed  to  tbe   Sabbath, 
and  of  what  it  is  thns  typical  and  significative,  is  not  a  little  difH- 
,    eah  to  find  out,  and,  being  found  out,  to  prove  it  so  to  be.     In 
I   bundling  the  cban^  of  the  Sabbath,  I  shall  positively  set  down 
'  what  I  apprehend ;  only  at  the  present  il  may  not  be  amiss  to 
east  in  a  few  negatives  of  whnt  it  is  not ;  for  men's  wils  in  ima- 
gining types  ami  allegories  are  very  sinfully  luxuriant,  unleEs  God 
check  them  in  such  kind  of  divinity. 

Tieii*  186.     The  type  lies  not  in  the  day  of  worship,  for  the 

greatest  adversaries  of  the  Snbbaih  place  a  raornliiy  therein; 

nor  dolb  il  lie  in  a  seventh  day ;  for  though  seven  be  made  a 

Biunber  of  perfection,  jet  what  sober  mind  ever  made  a  tyiw 

I   of  Mven,  more  than  of  six  or  ten  ?     Some  have  made  the  week 

k  a  short  (.ummary,  and  epitome,  and  resemblance  of  (hat  old  propb- 

1  tey  of  the  world's  continuance  for  six  thousand  years,  (a  tliou stiiid 

I  years  being  with  God  but  as  one  day,)  and  ihe  seventh  thousand 

f  Ibe  great  day  of  rest  and  peace  to  the  weary  world  ;  but  this  is 

''  R  doubtful  assertion  at  best ;  or,  if  true,  yet  it  is  not  tbereforo 

I  properly  a  iyi>e  ;  or  if  it  be,  yet  not  sinh  a  type  as  wa.«  to  it^aso 

\_  U  the  coming  of  Christ,  (as  our  adversaries  would    have  the 

15' 


I 

I 


I 
I 


I 


Sabbath.)  but  wliPn  the  antitype  is  come  of  (hat  seven  tbousand 
yenrs.  If,  ilicrdfore,  it  lies  any  where,  it  is  in  it  as  in  a  rest  day, 
or  day  of  rest. 

TTiait  187.  Some  make  the  re»t  of  tlie  Sikbbalh  a  type  of 
Clirist's  rest  in  the  |;ravei  and  if  it  could  be  proved,  I  durst  not 
oppose  it ;  but  it  ia  but  gratf»  dictnin,  affinned  by  Bome  go(!ly 
learned,  who  herein  symbolize  with  Popish  postillei's,  who  please 
tbeniselvea  rauch  in  this  and  such  like  allegorical  signifiijalions 
of  the  Subbatb'g  rtat.  For  if  Christ  did  ntilber  enter  into  the 
Blate  of  rest  till  his  resurrection,  nor^nto  the  place  of  rest  unlil  bia 
Bftcension,  how  then  could  the  re^t  of  the  Sitbbath  type  out  his 
rest  in  the  grave,  which  was  part  of  his  most  heavy  labor  of 
humiliation,  (Acts  ii.  24,)  and  no  part  of  bis  rest,  unless  it  was 
in  respect  of  cessation  therein  from  actions  of  natural  life  ?  But 
the  rest  of  one  day  is  very  unfit  to  resemble  and  type  out  the 
Pest  of  three  days  in  the  grave ;  and  whf  may  not  Christ's  real 
from  labor  in  bis  sleep  be  as  well  the  antitype  as  ChrL^t's  rest 
from  the  aelioits  of  this  life  in  his  grave  ? 

Thesis  188.  Why  may  not  our  labor  in  the  six  days  be  made 
a  type  of  our  laboring  in  sin,  as  well  aa  the  Sabbalh  a-tygie  of 
our  sancliUcation  and  rest  from  sin,  as  some  would  have  it? 
nVhy  may  nut  our  libertines  make  nbstinence  from  adultery, 
forbidden  in  the  seventh  command,  a  type  of  ouf  spiritual  chas- 
tity, (as  the  Gnostics  did  of  ohl,)  as  well  as  the  rest  from  labor 
on  (lie  Sabbath  a  type  of  our  veil  from  sin  ?  And  by  this  liberty, 
how  easy  is  it  for  frolhy  allegorizing  wits,  which  ray  heart  abliors, 
to  typify  (as  it  were)  and  allegorize  all  the  commandments  out 
■  of  the  world  1 

Thesis  189.  The  rest  on  the  Sabbath  may  be  considered 
either  in  respect  of  God's  example  in  himself,  or  his  command 
to  man  out  of  himself.  Now,  llio  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  is 
exemplary  in  God,  can  not  be  a  type  of  any  thiujj;,  because  God 
never  made  himself  an  example  of  any  ceremonial  thing.  God's 
own  immediate  nets  can  not,  without  much  injury  to  God,  be  made 
types  and  ceremonies ;  if,  therefore,  there  be  any  thing  of  llie 
rest  of  the  Sabbath  typiual,  it  is  so  in  refipcct  of  man's  rest  «n 
it,  commanded  nolo  him  of  God;  but  whether  and  what  it  doih 
typify,  we  shall  speak  to  in  its  proper  place. 

TTiesis  19(1.  There  wants  not  sufficient  proof  thai  the  Gen- 
tilna  generally  practiced  and  approved  a  seventh  dny's  Sabbalh, 
and  that  it  wiis  higlily  bonoied  among  them  as  very  gacicd. 
This  truth  both  Terlullian,  Eusebius,  Josephus,  and  Pliilo  have 
formerly  alBrmed.  Ai'ctus,  also,  especially  learned  Rivi?t,  have 
lately  vindicated  and  made  good  against  all  the  exceptions  of 


THE    SIOKALITT   OK  THK  SMtBATFI. 


IJGomiirus  and  others,  insomiicb  as  lliat  the  last  refuge  both  of 
GomaruH  anil  Primrose  is  this,  viz.,  that  all  those  heathens  who 
wril  abuut  ihe  Salihaih,  and  in  honor  of  it,  rei.'elved  not  their 
light  from  DBilure,  but  from  the  wriiings  of  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth, all  those  heathenish  testimonies  abont  the  Sabbath  being 
published  and  writ  long  after  the  delivering  of  the  law  upon 

tUounl  Sinai.     And  therefore  they  think  this  no  argument  to 
|ffove  tlial  tliis  law  was  practiced  ever  einc«  the  world  began,  or 
ibnl  it  was  known  by  ibe  light  of  nature,  by  which  it  might  be 
evinced  to  be  momi ;  but  by  this  answer  we  shall  scarce  know 
any  thing  to  be  aci'ording  to  the  light  of  nature  by  the  writings 
of  the  heathens,  for  all  their  writings  are  since  Moses'  time,  if 
ihey  be  of  any  credit.     But  suppose  they  did  not  know  it  by  the 
working  power  of  the  light  of  nature,  yet  if  ihey  approved  of.  and 
honored  this  day  when  it  was  mode  known  by  other  means,  go 
that  they  knew  it  by  the  approving  light  of  nature,  as  the  authors 
alleged  ra&ke  gooil,  it  is  then  eutRcieat  lo  prove  the  seventh  day 
monil,  even  by  the  light  of  nature ;  and  nlthungh  Seneca  and 
some  others  nvSvA  at  the  Jewish  Sabbaths,  as  if  they  lost  the 
Bcvrnth  part  of  their  time  thereby,  yet  we  koow  that  men's  lusts 
will  give  them  leave  to  scoff  at  that  wbicli  yet  their  consciences 
^^  ofaaMiae  Ihcni  for ;  beiude,  I  think  those  eoofie  were  not  so  much 
^^L  at  the  seventh  day  as  at  their  strict  and  ceremonious  observance 
^^B  lliereufi-  at  aho  of  their  seventh  ycani,  wherein  it  is  no  wonder  if 
^V'.thBl  the  light  of  nature  should  not  so  dearly  see. 
^^        Thetis  I'Jl.     The  light  of  nature  in  the  Gentiles,  especially  in 
matters  of  the  first  table,  was  very  imperfect,  dim,  and  corrupt 
Ucnce  it  is  that  we  can  not  expect  to  find  any  jicrfect  light  of 
nature  in  matters  of  the  Sabbath.     Some  glimmerings  and  dark 
practices  hen-in  are  sutficient  to  pi\>ve  that  this  law  is  natitral, 
L  although  the  exact  proportion  of  time  for  rest  should  not,  or  could 
[  'aot,  by  any  reaMniiig  of  corrupt  nature,  be  perfectly  found  out. 
I'Tlicir  observation  of  holidays  and  feslivab  did  argue  some  im- 
^rfect  ligbt  of  nature  lu)\  concerning  the  Sabbath,  which  once 
'  nature  bad  luore  ]>erfectly,  as  old  walla  and  rubbiiih  do  argue  old 
L  and  great  buildings  in  former  times.     But  suppose  they  could  not 
J  And  out  vsaclly  the  spvonth  part  of  time,  and  so  dalicate  it  to 
l-iGod  for  his  Sabbath ;  yet  the  want  of  such  light  argues  only  the 
•  Want  of  perfection  of  the  light  of  nature,  which  we  should  not 
■  expect  to  find  iu  the  present  light  of  nuture  in  matters  of  the  first 
^telle.  and  in  this  of  the  Sabbath ;  and  therefore  it  is  no  ailment 
9  prove  the  Sabbaih  not  to  be  of  the  law  of  nature,  because  the 
'   perfect  knowledge  of  the  eiact  time  thereof  is  not  lefl  in  corrupt 
'    Ml*"*  now. 


I 
I 

I 


TKflji's  102.  Siip|ii«elheG(inlile,iiliii  neiilicr  know,  nor  were 
eyer  reproved  [larlii-ularly  by  any  of  the  proplieis  for  bretiking 
the  Sabballi ;  yel  lUU  doih  not  ar<;iiB  ibiit  iliey  were  not  bound 
to  smiclily  a  Subbath,  and  that  it  was  iio  sin  fur  them  to  neglect 
llie  Rabtmlh ;  for  il  was  a  privilege  of  ibe  Jews  to  bave  God's 
oraclea  revealed  to  ihein,  and  especially  this  of  the  Sobbalh, 
(Neb.  ix.  14 1  liom.  iii.  2 ;)  so  it  was  a  curse  upon  the  Gentiles 
to  live  without  Christ,  uud  so  also  without  SabbaUis.  (Eph.  ii. 
12.)  The  times  of  which  ignorance  God  is  said  to  wink  at, 
(Acts  xvii.  30,)  iHrt  fay  excusing  them  for  the  breach  of  Sab- 
bath, or  other  sing,  but  by  not  reproving  thern  for  it,  as  neither 
he  did  for  many  other  moral  transjp-essions,  which  ootwithatand- 
ing  were  sins.  The  patriarchs  were  not  condemned  expressly 
till  Moses'  time  (by  Mr.  Primrose's  account)  for  their  polygamy, 
that  we  read  of,  and  yet  it  was  a  sin  all  that  time  against  the 
very  first  institution  of  marriage ;  and  why  might  not  the  breach 
of  the  Sabbath  be  a  sin  much  more  longer  among  the  Gentiles, 
and  yet  none  of  the  praphels  reprove  them  particularly  for  the 
same?  And  therefore  Mr.  Primrose  halli  no  cause  to  mark  this 
argument  with  chalk,  and  with  all  attention,  as  he  calls  it,  viz., 
that  the  breach  of  the  Sabbath  among  the  Gentiles  was  no  sin, 
because  it  was  not  any  where  particularly  reproved  by  the  proph- 
ets of  God ;  for  we  see,  by  what  liatb  been  said,  upon  what  weak 
crutches  it  standi. 

niesii  193.  The  Gentiles  shall  not  be  TOnde(nneil  only  for 
what  they  did  aclualiy  know,  and  did  not  prueiice,  but  also  for 
whut  they  did  not  actually  know,  yet  might  and  should  have 
known.  The  Gentiles  did  know  Uial  some  days  were  to  be  kept 
holy  to  God,  (saith  Mr.  Primrose.)  and  they  should  have  known 
the  fittest  proportion  and  most  suitable  freifuency  of  such  days, 
which  the  same  author  acknowledgeth  to  be  moral ;  therefore 
they  should  have  known  the  Beienili  day's  Sabbath,  and  possibly 
might  have  known  it  if  they  hod  not  held  truth  in  unrighteous- 
ness, but  made  improvement  hereof;  for  in  this  sense  hahrnti 
dabitur,  to  him  that  hulh  shajl  be  given,  to  wit,  more  of  the  same 
kind  of  light,  whether  natural,  moral,  or  evangelical ;  if  common 
light  ID  all  these,  more  common  light  i  if  special  light  in  them, 
they  shall  thou  have  more  special  and  saving  light. 

Thetis  194.  As  it  is  no  argument  that  that  law  is  according 
to  the  light  of  nature,  which  the  Gentiles  generally  practiced,  (for 
then  polytheism,  and  sacrificing  of  beasts.yea,  will  worship,  should 
be  according  to  the  light  of  nature,  because  these  sins  were  gen- 
erally practiced,)  so  it  is  no  argument  that  that  law  is  not  accord- 
ing to  the  light  of  nalqro  which  they  generally  neglected;  awl 


I 


TlIK   MORALITY    OV  THE   SAUBATH.  177 

tliiTeforc  suppoiw  the  Genliles  nevi;r  obacrvcil  a  Subbatli,  yet 
ii  iiu  Hrgumciil  tiint  il  is  therefore  no  moral  law.  I  know 
Primrose  ihiiiks  tbat  the  sacrifices  were  by  an  instinct  of 
Biilure,  because  it  dictates  that  all  sias  wliereof  mortal  men  are 
guilij  are  to  be  expiated  by  sacrifices  and  ofierings  to  God  of- 
fended ;  which  assertion  hath  some  truth  in  it,  if  those  words, 
"by  sacrifices  and  offerings,"  be  left  ont ;  for  what  liglit  of  nature 
could  tnalce  men  think  that  an  infinite  Deily  offended  could  be 
pacifit:d  by  sucb  curnal  observanced  sa  the  sacrifices  of  Itrute 
beasts  and  their  blood,  which  never  offtinded  ?  This  custom  the 
Gentiles  migbl  retain  as  a  relic  of  former  instruction  and  in- 
sttluiion.  1^  their  first  fathers  after  the  flood  i  which,  tieing  mat- 
ters merely  ceremonious,  might  be  retained  more  firmly  than 
other  moral  duties  of  great  consequence.  However,  we  see  that 
the  practice  of  the  Gentiles  is  no  fit  guide  to  direct  that  wtiich  is 
according  to  the  law  and  light  of  nature.  , 

T%tti»  195.  If  more  narrow  inijuiry  be  made,  what  the  lawl 
of  nature  is,  these  distinctions  must  be  otiserved:  — 

1.  The  law  of  nature  is  either  of  pure  or  corrupt  nature.  ^ 

The  law  of  pure  nature  was  the  law  of  God  writ  on  Adam's 
heart  in  ionocency,  which  was  nothing  else  but  that  holy  bent  and 
indiuation  of  the  heart  within  to  act  according  lo  the  holy  law 
of  God  revealed,  or  covenant  made  with  him  without ;  and  thus 
Aquinas  places  the  law  of  nature  in  this  inclination. 

The  law  of  corrupt  nature  is  that  dim  light  left  in  the  mind, 
and  moral  inclination  left  in  the  will,  in  respect  of  some  things  , 
couuuned  in  the  Uw  of  God,  which  the  apostle  calls  conteitHce,  i 
(Kom.  ii.  ld()  which  natural  conscience  is  nothing  but  the  rem* 
DaDt*  and  general  principles  of  the  law  of  pure  nature,  left  in  all 
men  since  the  fall,  which  may  be  increased  by  more  knowledge  . 
of  the  hiir  of  God.  or  more  diminished  and  defaced  by  llie  widk- 1 
ednoM  of  man.  (Til.  i.  15.)  

d.  The  law  of  corrupt  nature  ia  token  either  more  largely  or 
•trietly. 

Ai  it  is  taken  more  largely,  so  it  comprehends  all  that  which 
is  agreeable  and  suiiuhle  to  natural  reason,  and  that  from  a 
natur&l  innate  equity  in  the  thing,  when  it  is  made  known,  either 
by  divine  instruction  or  human  wii^dom,  although  it  be  not  im- 
ineiiiately  known  by  the  light  of  nature;  and  thus  numj  judiciid 
laws  are  natural  and  moral,  (though  pwilive,)  and  of  binding 
nature,  nnio  this  day. 

As  it  is  taken  tiriclly.  bo  it  comprehcmls  no  more  but  what 
nature  immediately  knows,  or  may  know,  wiihout  external  in- 
umction,  u  parenls  lo  be  honored,  man's  life  lo  be  preserved. 


I 

1 


178  TIIK   MOKALlTr   OF  TtlK   SAUEATW. 

3.  Tlie  luw  of  nature,  sirielly  iiiken,  are  eitlicr  principles  o 
nature,  or  coiu;lusi<»is  I'rom  sucb  principles. 

The  principks  of   Llie  law  of  uarure  are  in  some  respect*  -i 
man}',  yd  may  lie  reduced  to  thU  one  head,  viz. :  Tliat  good  is 
to  be  followed,  evil  to  l)e  avoided. 

Conclasions  are  deductions  from  ibose  priociples,  like  several 
streams  from  the  Game  spring,  which.  Lhough  less  evident  than 
the  principles,  yet  may  bo  readily  found  out  by  diacourse  and 
flad  Bcardi. 

4.  Conclusions  arising  from  these  principles  ore  more  imme- 
diate, or  mediate. 

Immediate  are  made  (by  Aquinas)  to  be  two:  1.  Love  God 
with  bU  Ihy  heart.     2.  Lore  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 

Mediate  are  sueli  ns  arise  from  llie  former  prindples,  by 
means  of  those  (wo  more  immediate  conclusions:  'Ond  of  this 
,  kind  are  some^  (as  he  thinks,)  yea,  ail  the  taws  of  the  decalogue, 
if  right  reason  may  be  judge.     Now  to  apply  these. 

Tlietia  lOG.  If  the  question  be  whutlier  the  Sabbath  he 
known  by  the  light  of  pure  nature,  the  onswer  is,  yea;  for 
Adam's  mind  knew  of  ii,  and  his  heart  was  inclined  and  bent  to 
the  keeping  of  it,  although  it  be  true,  that  now  this  light  in 
corrupt  nature  (as  in  many  other  moral  duties)  is  almost  wholly 
extinct  and  worn  out,  as  hath  been  formerly  shown.  And.  to 
speak  plainly,  tliis  great  and  first  impression  left  on  mau's  heart 
in  pure  nature  is  [he  tirst  rule  according  to  which  we  are  now 
to  judge  of  what  is  tlie  law  of  nature  ;  and  it  servgs  to  dash  to 
pieces  nnd  grind  to  powder  and  dust,  most  eSectually  and  strongly, 
the  dreams  and  devices  of  such  as  would  make  lite  Sabbath  not 
moral,  because  not  natural,  or  not  easily  known  by  the  present 
light  of  corrupt  nature,  whenas  corrupt  nature  is  no  perfect 
copy,  but  a  blotted  discovery  of  some  part  of  the  light  of  nature, 
which  was  fully  imprinted  at  large  in  pure  nature:  and  there- 
fore it  is  no  wonder  if  our  adversaries  so  much  oppose  the 
commandment  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  state  of  innocency:  such 
therefore  as  are  otherwise  orthodox  in  (his  point,  and  yet  make 
this  description  of  the  law  of  nature  (viz.,  which  was  written  on 
man's  heart  in  his  first  creation)  (o  be  both  uncertain  and  imper- 
tinent, do  unwarily  pull  down  one  of  (ho  strongest  bulwarks. 
and  the  first  that  ever  God  made  lo  defend  the  morality  of  the 
Sabbath :  there  is  indeed  no  express  scripture  which  makes 
this  description  of  the  law  of  nature,  (us  ihcy  object,)  and  so  it  is 
of  many  other  things  which  are  virtually  awi  for  substance  con- 
tained in  the  Scripture,  although  iliere  be  no  formal  description 
Bet  down  of  tlie  same  ;  and  the  like  I  say  of  this  description  here. 


THE   UOnALITT    OF   THE   SABBATH.  179 

1  nwt  107.  If  we  speak  of  the  law  of  nature,  siriclly 
ikcn,  for  llini  irlikli  is  iintnedintelj  and  readily  knowji  by  iho 
'  common  light  of  nature  in  sll  meu,  then  it  may  be  ^ely 
affirmed,  thai  aitbough  the  Sabbath  should  not  be  in  this  sense 
natural,  yut  it  will  not  follow  lliut  it  is  not  therefore  moral ;  tor 
ihe  moral  law,  once  writ  on  man's  heart  in  pure  nature,  is  almost 
blotted  out;  only  some  rudera  and  old  rubbi:jh  is  letl  of  it  in  a 
perverse  mind  and  a  corrupt  heart,  (Eph.  It.  18.)  We  see  the  i 
wisest  of  the  heathens  mailing  those  tilings  to  be  moral  virtues 
(Junius  instanceth  in  th«  lavvol'  private  revenge,  and  we  know  they 
magnilii>d  will  worship)  which  the  Scripture  condemns  as  moral 
vii^es  and  sins:  God  would  have  commonwealths  preserved, 
in  all  places  of  the  world,  from  the  inundnLion  and  deluge  of 
nan's  wickedness,  and  therefore  he  hath  generally  printed  the 
notions  of  the  second  table  upon  men's  hearts,  to  set  bounds 
(as  by  eea  banks)  unto  the  overflowings  thereof,  and  hence  it  is 
that  they  are  generally  known :  but  he  would  not  have  churches 
every  where,  and  therefore  there  is  but  little  known  concerning 
matters  of  the  first  table,  and  consequently  about  this  law  of 
the  Sabbath,  which  nolwithsljinding  muy  be  moral,  although  it  be 
not  so  immf-dialely  made  known. 

TAtsit  198.  If  we  speak  of  the  law  of  corrupt  nature, 
hrgely  taken,  for  that  law  which,  when  it  is  made  known  by 
'  divine  determination  and  declaration,  is  both  suitable  and  congru- 
ous to  natural  reason  and  equity,  we  may  then  say  that  the  law 
of  the  Sabbath  is  according  to  the  light  of  nature,  even  of  cor- 
rupt nature  itself:  for  do  but  suppose  that  God  is  to  be  wor- 
shipped, and  then  tliese  three  things  appear  to  be  most  equal. 
1.  That  he  is  not  only  to  have  a  time,  hut  a  special  time,  and  a 
lit  proportiou  of  time,  for  worship.  2.  That  it  is  moat  meet  that 
he  should  make  this  proportion.  3.  The  Lord  having  given 
iiiMn  six  dnys,  and  taken  a  seventh  to  himself,  man's  reason 
can  nut  hut  confess  Ihnt  it  is  most  just  to  dedicate  that  time  to 
tiud  :  and  fur  my  own  part,  I  think  that  in  this  respect  the  law 
of  the  Sahbuth  was  a-t  fairly  writ  on  man's  heart  in  innocency 
as  many  other  moral  laws,  which  none  question  the  morality 
of  At  tills  day;  but  disputes  about  this  are  herein  perhaps 
Uieleas, 

netii  199.  The  sacrament  of  tha  Lonl's  supper  may  be 
■dmiitistered  (meet  circumstances  concurring)  every  Lord's  day  i 
nay,  ujion  the  week  duys  oRen, as  they  did  in  the  primitive  por- 
sRcations  ;  and  hence  our  Saviour  limits  on  time  lor  it,  in  the 
first  iftstiiutiotT  thereof,  as  he  did  for  the  passovet  ol'  old,  but 
only  thus :  "  At  oft  as  yva  do  it,  do  it  in  rciuemhroncv  of  me." 


L. 


I 


I 


THE    SIORALITT    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

Eeitce  it  will  follow,  tbat  now  under  ibe  gospel  lliere  'u  no  set 
Sabbalh  (as  M.  PviniroBe  would)  because  our  Saviour,  at  tbe 
first  iDstitutlon  of  tlio  Lord's  suppt^r,  liniils  no  pur[ii;ultir  day  for 
the  celi'bratiun  thereof,  at)  once  he  did  for  ihe  pa^suver;  for 
though  there  ia  aa  appointed  special  time  (as  liliall  liercafier 
appear)  for  the  public  ciiercide  of  all  lioly  duties,  not  being 
limited  to  those  times,  but  enlarged  to  other  linies  also,  hence 
there  is  no  reason  why  our  Saviour  ebould  institute  a  set  Sab- 
bath, when  he  instituted  the  Lord's  supper,  at  (he  proper  lime 
of  the  celebration  thereof,  a«  it  was  in  case  of  the  passovcr. 

Thetit  200.  It  is  no  argumenttoprovetbe  Sahbatblobecer- 
emonial,  beuaase  it  is  reckoned  umong  ceremonials,  viz.,  show- 
breud  and  saciifices,  as  M.  Primrose  und  Wallieus  urge  it  out  of 
Jilatt.  xii.  1-3 ;  for,  1.  U|>on  the  same  ground  fornicAtion  and 
eitiing  of  idolothjtes  are  ceremonial,  because  tliey  are  ranked 
among  ceremonials,  viz.,  bloud  and  things  strangled,  (Acta  xv. 
2tt.)  2.  Upon  this  ground  the  Sabbath  hath  no  morality  at  all  in 
it,  no  more  then  showbread  and  sucriiices,  which  were  wholly 
ceremonial.  3.  The  Sabbath  is  in  tbe  same  place  reckoned 
among  things  which  are  moral,  as  pulling  a  sheep  out  of  a  pit 
upon  the  Sabbath  day,  an  act  of  humanity ;  why  may  it  not 
then  be  as  well  accounted  moral?  4.  One  may  as  well  argue 
that  the  not  keeping  company  with  publicans  and  sinners  was  a 
ceremonial  thing,  because  the  Lord  Jesus  useth  the  same  pro- 
verbial speech,  "  I  will  have  mercy,  not  sacrifice."  {Matt.  ix.  13 ;) 
npon  which  he  defends  the  hiwl'ulness  of  pulling  the  ears  of 
corn  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  in  this,  Matt.  xii.  15:  the  scope 
therefore  of  this  place  is  not  to  show  the  nature  of  the  Sabbath 
day,  whether  it  be  ceremonial  or  moral,  but  the  lawfulness  and 
morality  of  his  act  in  eating  the  ears  of  corn  upon  this  day ;  and 
Uius  the  arguments  of  our  Saviour  are  very  strong  and  convict- 
ing to  prove  the  morality  of  such  an  act,  but  no  way  to  prove 
the  ceremoniality  of  the  Sabbath ;  for  that  is  ilic  scope  of  our 
Saviour,  that  mercy  lo  the  hungry  is  to  be  preferred  before  ihe 
sacritlce  of  bodily  resting  u[»oii  the  Subbalh.  M.  Primrose 
indeed  replies  hereto,  and  tells  us,  that  "mercy  is  to  be  preferred 
before  sacriUce  or  ceremonial  duties,  but  not  before  moral  duties, 
and  therefore  Christ  preferring  it  before  the  rest  on  the  Sabbatii, 
the  Sabbath  could  not  be  moral."  But  we  know  that  mercy  in 
the  second  table  is  someliraes  to  be  preferred  before  niovnl  duties 
in  the  first  table:  a  man  is  bound  to  neglect  solemn  prayer 
■ometimes  lo  attend  upon  llie  sick:  it  ia  a  moral  duty  to  sanctiiy 
some  day  for  a  Sabbalh,  (saith  M.  Primrose ;)  and  yet  suppose  a 
fire  be  kindled  in  a,  town  upon  that  day,  or  any  sick  lo  be  helped ; 


I  BtQst  not  mercy  be  preferred  beflire  hearing  the  word  ?    which 
•  himself  will  acknowlc'(lf;e  to  be  tlien  a  moral  duty. 

TTietU  201.  When  Christ  is  f^aid  to  be  Lord  of  the  Sabbath, 
(Malt.  xii.  8,)  the  meaning  is  not  aa  if  he  was  such  a  Lord  as 
had  power  to  break  it,  but  rather  such  a  Lord  as  had  power 
to  appoint  it,  and  consequently  to  order  the  wqrk  of  it  for 
liis  own  service.  &L  Primrose  thinks  "  that  he  is  said  to  be 
Lord  of  it  because  he  had  jjower  lo  dispense  with  the  keep- 
ing of  it,  by  whom  and  when  he  would  ;  and  that  Christ  did 
choose  to  do  such  works  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  which  were 
neither  works  of  mercy  nor  neceseiily,  nay,  which  were  servile, 
which  the  Liw  forbade ;  for  Christ,  (saith  he,)  as  Mediator,  liad 
no  power  to  dispense  with  things  moral,  bat  he  might  with 
mailers  ceremonial,  and  therefore  with  the  Sabbath."  How  far 
Christ  Jesus  might  and  may  dispense  with  moral  taws,  I  dispute 
not  now  i  I  think  Biell  comes  nearest  the  truth  in  this  controversy  j 
(miy  this  is  considerable  :  suppose  the  Sabbath  was  ceremonial; 
Tel  it  is  doubtful  whellier  Christ  Jesus,  who  came  in  the  days  of 
bia  llesh  u  fullill  alt  righteousness,  could  abolish  or  break  the 
law  ceremonial  until  his  death  was  post,  by  which  this  hand- 
writing of  ordinances  was  blotted  out,  (Col.  ii.  14,)  and  this 
middle  wall  of  partition  was  broken  down.  (Epfa.  ii.  14-16.) 
But  let  it  be  yielded -that  Christ  had  power  to  break  ceremonial 
bws  then  before  his  death,  yet  in  this  plitce  there  is  no  such 
mailer  ;  for  the  words  contain  a  clear  proof  for  the  right  obser- 
vaiiiw  of  the  Sabbath,  against  the  over-rigid  conceptions  of  the 
copcrslilious  and  proud  Pharisees,  who  aa  they  thought  it  un- 
lawful for  Christ  to  beat  the  sick  upon  tlie  Sabbath,  so  to  rub 
out,  and  eat  a  few  com  ears  upon  il,  although  hunger  and  want 

Sand  perhaps  more  than  ordinary  in  the  disciples  here)  should 
»ree  men  hereunio,  wtiich  was  no  servile  work,  (as  SI.  Primrose 
.)  but  a  work  of  necessity  and  mercy  in  thb  case ;  and  onr 
Saviour  proves  the  morality  of  it  from  the  example  of  David 
Mliug  the  showbread,  and  those  thai  were  with  him,  preferring 
tkai  aci  of  mercy  before  sacrifice,  and  obstinence  from  show- 
kread ;  and  hence  our  Sainour  argues,  ihat  if  they  attending 
anon  David  might  cat  the  showbread,  much  more  his  hungry 
I  4uciplcs  might  eut  ihe  com  while  they  atiended  upon  him  that 
s  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  that  Ihey  might  be  the 
belter  Bireiiglhened  hereby  to  do  him  service :  these  things  being 
tun,  where  now  is  tliere  to  be  found  any  real  breach  of  the 
hbbath,  or  doing  of  any  servile  work,  or  maintenance  of  any  un- 
ary work,  which  the  same  learned  and  a^utc  writer  impulca 
P  our  Saviour  ?  which  I  had  almost  said  b  almost  blaiphemoDS. 

VOL.   111.  16 


I 


182  THE   MORALITT   OF   THE    SAllBATH. 

Thetit  202.  It  is  no  argument  that  Ihe  Salib&tli  is  not  moral, 
because  it  is  suid  (Mnrk  ii.  27)  that  man  is  not  mailc  Tor  it,  but 
it  for  man  ;  for.  sailh  M.  Ironside,  man  ia  made  for  moral  duties, 
not  they  fur  man :  for  let  the  Sabbath  be  taken  for  the  bare 
rest  of  the  Sabbath,  as  the  Pharisees  did,  wbo  placed  so  mucli 
religion  Id  tlic  bare  rest  as  that  they  thought  it  unlawful  to  heal 
the  sick  on  that  day,  or  feed  llie  hungry ;  so  man  is  not  made  aa 
Ia£l1y,  for  ihe  bare  rest,  but  rather  it  for  man  and  for  his  good ; 
but  if  by  Sabbath  be  meant  the  aanciilication  of  that  rest,  so 
man  is  made  for  it,  by  Itl.  Primrose's  own  eoafession.  Now,  our 
Saviour  speaks  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  first  respect ;  for  the  rest 
of  it  is  but  a  means  to  a  further  and  a  better  end,  viz.,  the  true 
sancttficalion  of  it,  which  the  Pharisees  little  looked  unio ;  and 
therefore  he  might  well  say  tliat  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
the  rest  of  it  being  no  further  good  than  as  it  was  helpful  to  man 
in  duties  of  piety  or  mercy  required  of  man,  in  the  sanctification 
tliereoT.  M.  Primrose,  confessing  tlial  man  is  made  for  the  sanc- 
tification of  the  Sabbath,  would  llierefore  wind  out  from  litis,  by 
making  this  sanctification  on  the  Sabbath  to  be  no  more  than 
what  is  equally  required  of  man  all  the  week  beside:  but  he  is 
herein  also  much  mistaken ;  for  though  works  of  piety  and  mercy 
■re  required  every  day,  yet  they  are  required  wiib  a  certain 
eminency  and  specialty  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  and  thence  it  is 
that  God  calls  men  to  re^t from  all  worldly  occasions,  (which  lie 
doth  not  on  the  week  days,)  that  they  might  honor  God  in  spe- 
cial upon  the  Sabbath,  ns  shall  hereafter  appear. 

Thttit  203.  It  is  a  monkish  speculation  of  M.  Broad  to  dis- 
tinguish BO  of  the  Sabbath  in  unm  myttico  and  geniu  littrali,  as 
that  the  mystical  sense,  like  the  lean  and  ill-favored  kine  in  Pha- 
raoh's dream,  shall  eat  up  the  literal  sense,  and  devour  God's 
blessed  and  sweet  Sabbath ;  for  the  Lord  never  meant  by  the 
Sabbath  such  a  mystical  thing  as  the  resting  from  the  works  of 
the  old  man  only  every  day,  no  more  than,  when  he  commands 
us  to  labor  six  days,  he  permits  us  to  labor  in  the  works  of  the 
old  man  all  the  six  days. 

Tketii  204.  For  though  it  be  true  that  we  are  to  rest  every 
day  from  sin,  yet  it  will  not  hence  follow  that  every  day  is  to  be 
a  Christian's  Sabbath,  and  that  no  one  day  in  seven  is  to  be  set 
apart  for  iL  For,  1.  Upon  tlie  game  ground  Adam  should  have 
hud  no  Sabbath,  because  lie  was  to  rest  from  sin  every  day. 
2.  The  Jews  also,  before  Christ,  sliould  have  rejected  all  Sab- 
baths, because  they  were  then  bound  to  rest  from  ein  as  well  as 
Christians  now.  3.  Upon  the  same  ground  there  must  be  no 
days  of  fasting  or  feasting  under  Ihe  gospel,  because  we  are  to 


i 


^H  Tim  MonALiTv  uF  nir.  saI'-bath.  183 

^v  fwl  from  sin  everj-Jny,  and  In  be  joyful  and  lliankful  every  dfiy. 
^V  I  know  eouiu  libertinee  of  late  eay  so  ;  but  upou  the  GBine 
™  gruuud  iherc  ehould  have  been  none  under  tlic  law  neither,  for 
Ihey  were  llien  buunti  as  well  as  wc  lo  faiit  from  sin.  4.  Hence 
neitiic-r  sliouli!  any  man  pay  his  debts.  becauGe  he  is  bound  to  be 
paying  bis  debt  of  love  lo  God  and  all  men  every  day.  5.  Ilenee 
also  DO  man  should  pray  at  any  time  in  hie  family,  nor  alone  by 
himself  solemnly,  because  a  Cliristiiin  is  bound  to  pray  continu- 
nlly.  And,  indeed,  I  did  not  think  ttiat  any  forehead  n>uld  I>c  so 
bold  and  brazen  as  to  make  sncb  a  conclusion.  But  while  I  was 
writing  this,  came  to  my  lietiring  concerning  a  seaman  who  came 
to  these  coasts  from  London,  miserably  deluded  with  princiiiles 
of  Familism,  who,  when  an  honest  New  English  man,  his  cabin 
le,  invited  him  lo  go  along  and  pray  together,  considering  their 
essiiies,  he  would  professedly  refuse  to  do  it,  upon  this 
ground,  viz.,  Dost  not  pray  continually 't  Why  then  should  we 
pray  together  now  ?  6.  The  commandment  of  the  Sabhaih  dolh 
SOI  therefore  press  us  to  rest  only  from  such  works  us  are  in 
themselves  evil,  which  God  allows  al  no  time ;  hut  from  the  works  . 
of  our  callings  and  weekly  cmploymcnU,  nbidi  are  in  them- 
■elves  lawful  and  of  necessity  to  be  attended  on  at  some  lime. 
It  is  therefore  a  loose  and  groundless  assertion  to  make  every  day 
'  under  the  gospel  to  be  a  Christian's  Sabhaih  daj~. 

Thetis  205.  To  think  that  the  Sabhaih  was  proper  to  the 
Jews,  becanse  they  only  were  able  to  keep  and  exactly  observe 
the  lima  of  it,  being  shut  up  (as  ]U.  Primrose  sailb)  within  a 
Utile  comer  of  the  earth,  and  that  the  Gentiles  therefore  are  not 
bound  lo  it,  because  they  can  noi  exactly  oliserve  the  time  of  it, 
in  icvcml  quarlfrs  of  Ilie  earth  so  for  distant,  is  a  very  fcehle 
tu^ument;  for  why  might  not  all  nations  exactly  observe  iho 
rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  according  to  several  climates  hy 
vfaich  tlie  natural  day,  and  so  this  of  a  Sabbath,  is  exactly  meas- 
■red?  and  which  God  haih  appointed  (without  limitation  to  any 
hour)  lo  be  ihe  bounds  of  tlie  Sabbath  as  it  sooner  or  later  rises 
or  s«ls  ?  Were  not  the  mariners  of  the  men  of  Judali  bound  to 
'  observe  the  seventh  day  in  all  the  several  coasts  where  Ihey 
made  their  voyages  ?  Did  God  limit  lliem  lo  the  rising  or  Eelting 
■nn  of  Judea  only  ?  What  color  is  there  to  think  thus  of  theiu  ? 
Indeed,  it  is  true  that,  in  some  habitable  northern  coasts,  the  sun 
it  not  out  of  sight  some  months  logelber ;  but  yet  this  is  cerlain, 
if  they  know  huw  the  year  spends  into  months,  they  can  exactly 
reckon  the  weeks  of  those  months,  and  ibereibre  can  exacily  IcU 
Tou  the  days  uf  wbich  those  weeks  consi.'^t,  and  lliercfore  llicy 
uve  their  exact  rules  and  menauret  to  know  east  and  west,  the 


place  of  the  sunri^ing  and  eun^^etting,  and  conseqiientljr  to  know 
the  Saliliatli  dajrs;  uud  yet,  if  tbey  Bhonld  not  exactly  know  it, 
their  will  to  do  it  is  herein  (as  in  other  tilings)  accepted  of  God> 

TKuii  20C.  If  this  truth  concerning  the  morulily  of  the 
Sabbath  did  depend  upon  the  leBttmony  of  ancient  writers,  it 
were  easy  to  bring  them  up  here  in  ihe  rear,  not wiihafnnding  the 
flourishes  of  the  great  historian :  but  this  haih  been  done  suffi- 
ciently by  others,  nor  doth  it  suit  our  scope  who  nim  nt  only  the 
clearing  up  of  the  meaning  of  the  fourth  command,  whicli  roust 
stand  firm ;  the  heaven  and  earth  shall  fall  asunder ;  the  Lord 
will  rnlher  waste  kingdoms,  and  the  whole  Christian  world,  with 
fire  and  swoE^,  than  let  one  tittle  of  his  law  perish ;  the  land 
must  rest  when  God's  Sabbiitha  can  not,  (Lev.  xxvi.  3'!  ;)  and 
although  I  wish  the  ministry  of  Christ  Jeeus  a  L'oniely  and  com- 
fbrlable  maintenance,  as  may  richly  testify  his  people's  abundant 
tliunkfulnesB  for  the  feet  of  those  his  messengers  as  preacii 
peace,  ret  melhinks  it  argues  great  blindness  in  those  men  who 
plead  for  a  morality  in  u  tenth  pig,  or  sheaf  of  com,  and  yet 
will  acknowledge  no  morality  in  a  seventh  day. 

T^etit  207.  I  shall  therefore  conclude  and  shut  up  these 
things  with  answer  to  M.  Carpenter's  and  Heylin's  ii-giixa,  an 
argimient  against  the  Siibbatli,  which  they  have  gone  compassing 
the  whole  earth  and  heavens  about  to  find  out,  never  heard  of 
ml  their  days,  and  now  it  is  brought  to  light.  I  would  not  make 
inirth  with  it,  (as  some  have  done,  and  left  the  scruple  untouched,) 
but  in  words  of  sobriety,  and  seriousness,  and  plainness.  If  the 
Sabbath,  or  Lord's  day,  (say  they,)  be  moral,  then  the  moral  law 
is  subject  lo  manifold  mutalion,  because  the  nations  issuing  out 
of  Noah's  ark  spread  themselves  from  thence  over  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth,  some  farlher,  some  at  a  shorter  distance,  where- 
by, changing  the  longitude  with  their  habitation,  they  must  of 
necessity  alter  the  differences  of  times ;  neither  can  any  exactly 
and  precisely  observe  any  one  day,  either  as  it  was  appointed  by 
Hoses,  or  as  it  was  instituted  by  Christ's  apostles  afterward,  by 
reason  of  the  manifold  transportation  of  colonies,  and  transmi- 
gration of  nations,  from  one  region  into  another,  whereby  the 
timea  must  necessarily  be  supposed  lo  vary,  "tho  answer  is 
ready  and  easy,  viz. :  Although  the  nations  issued  out  of  Noah's 
ark,  and  spread  themselves  over  the  face  of  Ihe  whole  earth, 
tome  farther,  some  at  a  shorter  distance,  and  thereby  changing 
their  longitude,  altered  the  dilFerences  of  time,  some  beginning 
the  day  sooner,  some  later,  yet  they  might  observe  Ihu  same 
day ;  for  the  day  is  regulated  and  measured  by  the  sun,  and  the 
sua  comes  to  one  meridian  sooner  or  later  than  to  onolher,  and 


'Itenre  Ihe  day  begins  in  one  place  sooner  or  Inter  than  in  another, 
~  so  the  beginuing  of  the  liaj  is  (respeclively)  variccl,  but  yet 
Ae  day  itdelf  remains  unuliangeably  the  same  :  what  lliough  our 
Muiilrymen  in  Old  England  begin  their  Sabbath  above  foar 
hours  before  us  in  New,  they  beginning  at  tlieir  evening,  we  at 
r  evening ;  yet  bolb  may  and  tlo  observe  the  same  day :  alt 
nalions  are  bound  to  keep  holy  a  seventh  part  of  time  ;  but  that 
time  must  be  regulated  by  the  sun,  neither  is  it  necessary  that 
Ae^ame  individual  twenty-fonr  hours  should  be  observed  by  all, 
but  the  liame  day  as  it  is  measured  by  the  sun  in  this  or  that 
place,  which  may  be^n  in  places  more  easterly  many  hours 
sooner  than  in  other  places  more  westerly ;  a  day  is  not  prop- 
erly time,  bm  a  measure  of  time,  and  therefore  the  manif<^ld 
transportation  of  colonies,  and  transmigration  of  nations,  from 
Me  region  unto  another,  hinder  not  nt  all,  but  that  they  mny  ex- 
■ctly  and  precisely  observe  the  same  day,  which  was  instituted 
■nd  appointed ;  for  although  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the 
day  be  varied,  yet  the  day  itself  is  not,  can  not  be  varied  or 
"langcd. 

Now,  whereas  they  say,  that  if  any  man  should  travel  tbe 
world  about,  a  whole  day  must  needs  be  varied,  and  if  two  men 
from  the  same  place  travel,  the  one  eastward,  the  other  west- 
ward, round  about  the  earth,  and  meet  in  the  same  place  again, 
.0Ky  Htiall  find  that  he  who  hath  gone  eastward  hath  gotten,  and 
ihe  other  going  westward  hath  lost,  a  day  in  their  account ;  yea, 
'ttie  Hollanders,  after  their  du^oovery  of  Prelum  de  Mayre, 
coming  home  to  their  country,  found,  by  comparing  their  ac- 
counts with  their  countrymen  at  home,  tliat  they  had  lost  a  day, 
^viug  gone  westward,  and  so  compassed  the  earth  round.  I 
aniwer,  what  though  a  Inivelor  varying  perpetually  tbe  quantity 
|«f  lite  day,  by  reason  of  his  continual  moving  with  or  against  the 
Mn's  ranlion,  in  time  get  or  lose  a  day  in  his  account ;  is  tbe  day, 
dKi^forc,  of  its  own  nature  variable  or  cluingeable?  God  hath 
plkcud  the  sun  in  the  Krinameol,  and  appointed  it  for  times  and 
MOHons,  and  in  ^t>ccial  for  the  regulating  of  the  day ;  and  as  the 
■notion  of  the  sun  is  constant,  so  there  is  an  ordinary  and  constant 
Hiccession  of  days  without  variation  ;  lor  unless  tbe  sun's  course 

»be  changed,  tbe  day  which  is  regulated  by  it  is  not  cliangod. 
Kow,  if  any  shall  travel  round  about  the  world,  and  so  anticipate 
«r  second  the  diurnal  motion  of  the  sun,  and  thereby  varying 
continually  thu  quantity  of  the  day,  at  length  gain  or  lose  a  day, 
According  to  tlieir  reckoning,  they  may  and  ought  then  to  correct 
their  accounts.  Gregory  XIII.,  having  found  the  Julian  year  to 
be  loo  grvU  for  tbe  motion  of  tba  sun,  cut  off  ten  days,  by  wtiioh 


I 


186  THE    MORALITV    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

the  equinoxea  and  solEtices  hnd  anticipated  their  proper  places, 
(hat  go  the  year  might  be  kept  at  Its  riglit  periods  ;  and  ta  it  not 
ftS  good  reason  that  a  traveler  who,  oppoaing  the  sun's  diurnal 
course,  contiiiunUy  shortens  somewhat  of  his  day,  till  at  Ust  in 
compaseing  the  earlh  round  he  gains  a  irhole  daj,  should  cut  off 
ia  his  fucounts  thai  day  wliii-h  he  hath  gained  by  anticipating  the 
Ban's  course,  and  so  rectify  liis  account  of  the  day  ?  For  in  every 
tvgion  and  counlry  whai?oever,  and  howsoerer  situate,  as  men 
■re  to  begin  the  day  at  ihnt  time  whca  ttie  day  naturally  begins 
ib  that  place,  so  likewise  ihey  are  to  reckon  and  count  the  days 
U  tliey  ore  there  regulated  and  ordered  by  the  sun,  and  that 
should  be  the  first  or  second  day  of  the  week  to  them  which  is 
nalurally  the  first  or  second  day  of  the  week  lo  that  place  where 
they  are;  and  thus  their  doubts  arc  easily  salisfied  when  they 
return  to  the  ])lace  whence  Ihey  first  came.  But  if  any  shall  say, 
it  is  very  difficult  for  men  thus  lo  rectify  their  accounts,  and  lo 
observe  that  time  in  every  place  which  was  at  first  instituted, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  nations  in  their  several  transmi- 
grations and  transportations  never  used  any  such  course,  the 
answer  is  obvious :  men's  weakness,  or  neglect  and  carelessness  to 
do  what  they  ought,  ia  not  a  suflicient  argument  to  prove  that  not 
to  be  their  duty ;  l>esideg,  it  is  not  probable  that  any  nations  were 
thus  put  to  it  to  travel  round  about  the  whole  earth,  (although 
some  particular  persons  in  this  later  age  have  sailed  round  about 
it,)  and  therefore  could  not  vary  a  whole  day  possibly ;  but  going 
Bome  eastward,  some  westward,  some  southward,  some  northward, 
they  spread  themselves  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  some  at 
A  shorter,  some  at  a  farther  distance,  and  so  some  began  the  day 
sooner,  some  later,  and  yet  all  (as  hath  been  shown)  might  ob- 
serve the  same  day.  The  morality  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  built 
Vpon  astronomical  or  geometrical  principles,  and  therefore  it  can 
not  fall  by  any  shady  speculations  so  far-fetched. 


CHANGE  OP  THE  SABBATH. 


7^«(  1.  Tub  cljangc  o[  this  day  from  iho  last  (o  the  iii^t 
if  ihe  week,  altliough  it  be  confirmed  by  an  ancient  custom,  jet 
the  true  reason  and  grounds  of  so  great  a  change  are  not  so  fully 
knowD,  Bscred  writings  not  k>  expressly  setting  down  (as  it  doth 
in  some  things  of  less  concernment)  the  causes  hereof.  And 
many  of  the  argumenU  heaped  up  and  multiplied  by  some  for 
tlio  change  of  it,  which  may  seem  of  rery  great  weight,  while 
they  want  an  adversary  at  the  other  end  of  the  scale  lo  balance 
them :  yet  upon  sod  examination  and  search  into  them,  they 
prove  loo  light,  and  consequently  occasion  the  tempialion  of 
scrupling  the  truth  and  Talidity  of  others  more  clear.  We  are 
therefore  wiih  more  wariness  and  humility  of  mind  to  search 
into  this  comroverey,  and  with  much  thankfulness  and. modesty 
to  accept  that  little  light  which*  God  gircs  us  in  greater,  as  well 
ns  of  much  light  nhidi  he  is  pleased  to  lend  us  in  smaller  mai- 
lers. PmcimaT  operlii,  exerceraur  obtcurii,  was  his  speech  loiig 
bince  concerning  the  Scriptures,  There  is  no  truth  so  clear  but 
man's  loose  wit  can  invent  and  mint  many  pernicious  caviU 
agitinst  it;  and  therefore  in  those  things  which  f^hine  forth  with 
less  evidence,  it  is  no  wonder  if  it  ca^ts  such  blots  and  stains 
ofion  ibem  as  lliftt  they  can  scarcely  be  discerned,  yH  magit 
inimieam  ttrilatt,  acumine  nimio.  We  should  therefore  bo  wise 
with  sobriety,  and  remember  that  in  this  and  such  like  contro- 
versies, the  Scriptures  were  not  written  to  answer  all  the  scru< 
plea  and  objections  of  cavilers,  but  to  satisfy  and  stablish  the 
consciences  of  poor  believers.  And  verily,  when  I  meet  with 
»uch  like  speeches  and  objections  as  these,  viz..  Where  is  it  ex- 
pressly Kud  that  the  old  Subbalh  is  abrogated?  and  what  one 
scripture  is  there  in  the  New  TesUment  decbring  expressly  that 
the  Lord's  day  is  substituted  and  put  in  its  room  'f  1  can  not  from 
such  expressions  but  think  and  fear  that  the  ignorance  uf  this 
187 


I 


change  in  some  doth  not  Bgiriiig  so  much  from  defiuienej  and 
wiint  of  light  on  God's  pari,  but  nwlier  from  perverseness  on 
man's  pari,  which  will  not  see  nor  own  the  truth,  because  it  is 
not  revenled  and  disjiensed  after  that  mannei'  and  lashion  of 
CApre^^ion  as  man's  wit  and  fantasy  would  hnre  it.  Like 
Nuainan,  who,  because  llie  prophet  went  not  about  the  cure  of 
bis  IcpnH'j'  in  thnt  way  and  fashion  which  he  vrould  have  bim, 
did  not  thi^refore  (for  a  time)  see  that  way  of  cure  which  God 
Itud  revealed  to  bim.  For  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  bound  to  wiite 
all  the  prineiples  of  religion  umler  commonplace  hcadii,  nor  to 
«iy  expressly.  In  ihia  place  of  Scripture  you  may  see  the  old 
8abbaih  abrogated,  and  the  new  ineiituted  ;  tor  we  find  no  such 
kind  of  expressions  concerning  Paul's  epi^tle^,  and  many  bookd 
nf  Scripture,  that  this  or  that  epistle  or  book  is  canonical,  whicli 
yet  we  know  to  be  so  by  other  evidences.  We  know,  also,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost,  by  brief  hints  of  truth,  gives  occasion  of  largo 
oomnicnts,  and  by  writing  about  other  matters  tajigiiam  aliud 
agtnt.  it  brings  forth  lo  light,  by  the  by,  rcvel^on»  of  great  con- 
,  corument,  which  it  saw  meet  purposely  in  that  maniier  to  make 
known.  And  as  in  many  other  things  it  hutb  thuH  done,  so  es- 
pecially in  this  of  the  Sabbath.  So  that  if  our  hearts,  like  locks, 
were  fitted  to  God's  key,  they  would  be  soon  opened  to  see 
thoroughly  the  difficulties  of  this  point :  which  I  confess,  of  all 
practical  points,  hath  been  most  full  of  knots  and  difiiculties  to 
my  own  weakness. 

T^mit  %  To  make  apostolical  unwritten  Inspirations,  notified 
ftnd  made  known  in  their  days  to  the  churches,  to  be  the  cause 
of  the  change  of  the  day,  is  lo  plow  with  a  Popish  heifer,  ami 
to  cost  that  anchor  on  which  deceivers  use  to  rely,  and  by  which 
thoy  hope  lo  save  themselves  when  they  know  not  how  other- 
wbc  to  defend  their  falsehoods. 

77ie*it  3.  To  make  ecclesiastical  custom,  established  lirst  by 
the  imperial  law  of  Conslanline,  to  be  the  foundation  of  the 
ehange,  is  to  make  a  prop  for  prelacy,  and  a  step  to  Popery,  and 
to  open  A  gap  to  all  human  inventions.  For  if  it  be  in  the  church's 
power  to  appoint  the  greatest  holy  day,  why  may  not  any  other 
rile  and  ceremony  bo  imposed  al^o  ?  And  if  it  be  free  lo  observe 
this  day  or  not,  in  respect  of  itself,  because  it  wants  a  divine 
institulioii,  and  yet  necessary  to  observe  it,  in  respect  of  the 
ehurch's  custom  and  constitution,  (as  some  pretend.)  why  may 
not  the  church's  commandment  be  a  rule  of  obedience  in  a 
thousand  things  ehie  as  well  as  in  this?  and  so  introduce  will 
wurvhip,  and  to  ^erve  God  afier  the  tradition  of  men,  which  God 
•Urani' 


THE    CHANGE   OF  THE   SABBATO. 


Theii*  4.  The  observation  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  for 
the  Clirislifui  S»bbath  ariselb  from  the  force  of  the  foiirtli  com' 
maiidmenl,  as  Btrongl/  as  the  observation  of  the  media  cultia, 
or  means  of  worship,  now  under  the  New  Testament,  doth  from 
the  force  of  the  second  commnndment ;  only  let  this  be  supposed, 
that  the  day  is  now  changed,  (as  we  sliall  hereafter  prove,)  as 
also  that  the  worship  itself  is  changed  by  divine  institution ;  for 
gospel  institutions,  when  the/  be  appointed  by  divine  sovereign 
authority,  yet  ihey  may  then  be  observed  and  practiced  by  virtue 
of  some  moral  law.  The  gospel  appointed  new  sacraments,  but 
we  are  to  use  them  by  virtue  of  tlie  second  commnnduient ;  so 
heru  the  gospel  appoints  a  new  seventh  day  for  the  Sabbath,  but 
it  Htands  by  virtue  of  the  fourth  commandment,  and  therefore  the 
olwervalion  of  it  is  not  an  act  of  Christian  liberty,  but  of  Clirig- 
ti;in  duty,  imposed  by  divine  authority,  and  by  virtue  of  the 
moral  law. 

neiit  5.  For.  the  morality  of  the  fourth  commandment  (as 
liaih  been  proved)  being  preserved  in  observing  not  that  Sabbuth 
only,  nor  yet  a  Sabbath  merely  when  man  sees  meet,  but  in  ob- 
serving llie  Sabbath,  i.  e.,  such  a  Sabbuth  as  is  determined  and 
apininted  of  God,  (which  may  therefore  be  cither  the  lirsi  or  lost 
si'  tlie  seven  dayt,)  hence  it  is,  that  the  first  of  the  seven,  if  it  be 
determined  and  instituted  of  God  under  the  New  Testament, 
Hn»ctb  e(]ually  from  the  fourth  commandment,  as  the  last  sevenili 
day  did  under  the  Old  Testament ;  and  tlierefore  it  is  no  such 
piaruiam,  nor  deluiion  of  the  common  people,  as  Mr.  Brabourn 
would  make  it,  to  put  the  title  of  the  Lord's  Sabbath  upon  the 
Lord's  day,  and  to  call  it  the  Subbatb  day  ;  for  if  it  be  bom  out 
of  the  same  womb  the  first  seventh  waa,  il"  it  arise  (I  mean)  from 
the  same  commandment,  "  liemembcr  to  keep  holy  tbe  Sabbath 
day."  why  may  it  not  bear  the  name  of  the  Sitbbuih  now,  as  Iho 
lirijt  bom  did  in  former  times  ? 

Theiit  6.  If  tbe  Lord  would  have  man  to  work  eix  days 
together,  according  to  his  own  example,  and  the  morality  of  the 
fourth  commandment,  that  so  a  seventh  day  determined  by  him- 
self might  be  observed,  hence  il  is  tliat  neitlier  two  Sabbaths  in  a 
week  can  stand  with  the  morality  of  the  fourth  commandment,  nor 
yet  could  the  former  Sabbaih  be  justly  changed  iulo  any  other 
lUv  tluui  into  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  the  first  day  could  not 
belong  to  the  week  before,  for  then  there  should  be  eiglit  daya 
in  a  week,  and  if  il  did  belong  to  the  week  following,  then  (if  we 
suppow  that  tlie  second  had  l>een  the  Sabbuth)  there  must  be 
one  working  day,  vix.,  the  first  day  to  go  before  it,  and  five  work- 
ing dayi  BKer  il,  and  so  there  should  not  uur  cuuld  not  be  six 


working  days  continued  logelLer,  that  Ihe  sevenlli  might  b 
Lord's,  according  lo  ihe  inoralily  of  the  fourth  commandment. 
And  hence  it  is,  that  no  human  or  ecclesiastical  power  cau  change 
llie  Sabbath  lo  what  day  of  the  week  thej  please,  from  the  first, 

7K«m  7.  It  should  not  seem  an  uncouth  phrase,  or  a  hard 
saying,  lo  call  the  first  day  of  the  week  a  seventh,  or  the  serenth  ' 
day ;  for  though  U  be  the  first  absolutely  in  order  of  existence 
from  the  creation,  yet  relatively  in  way  of  relation,  and  in  respect 
of  the  number  of  seven  in  a  week,  it  may  he  invested  with  the 
name  and  title  of  a  seventh,  even  of  such  a  seventh  aa  may  law- 
fully be  crowned  and  anointed  to  be  the  Sabbath  day;  for  look, 
as  Noah,  though  he  waa  the  first  in  order  of  years,  and  dignilj 
of  entrance  into  the  ark,  yet  he  is  called  the  eighth,  (2  Pet  ii.  5,) 
in  that  he  was  one  of  them  (as  the  learned  observe)  qui  oelona- 
rium  nuntentm  perjiciebani,  or  who  made  up  the  number  of  eight; 
so  it  is  in  res])ect  of  the  first  day,  which  in  divers  respects  may 
be  cnlled  the  first,  and  yet  the  seventh  also.  Mr.  Braboum's 
argument  therefore  is  of  no  solidiry,  who  goes  about  to  prove  the 
Christian  Sabbath  to  be  no  Sabbath,  because  "that  Sabbath 
which  the  foui-th  commandment  enjoins  is  called  the  seventh 
day ; "  but  all  the  evangelbts  call  the  Lord's  day  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  not  the  seventh  day.  For  he  should  remember  that  the 
same  day  in  divers  respects  may  be  called  the  first  day,  and  yet 
the  seventh  day  ;  for  in  respect  of  its  natural  existence  and  be- 
ing, it  may  be  and  is  called  the  lirst  day,  and  yet  in  respect  of 
divine  use  and  application,  it  may  be  and  Is  called  Ihe  seventh 
day,  even  by  virtue  of  the  fourth  commandment,  which  is  the 
I.ord's  day,  which  is  confessed  to  be  the  first  day. 

Thttit  8.  For  although  in  tmmtro  numerarUe,  (as  they  call 
it,)  i.  e.,  in  number  numbering,  there  can  be  but  one  seventh, 
which  immediately  follows  the  number  six,  yet  in  nuinero  Hu?n«- 
ralv,  i.  e.,  in  number  numbered,  or  in  things  which  are  numbered, 
(as  are  tbe  days  of  the  week,)  any  of  the  seven  may  be  so  in  way 
of  relation  and  proportion.  As,  suppose  seven  men  stand  to- 
gether ;  take  the  last  man  in  order  from  the  other  six,  who  stand 
about  him,  and  he  is  the  seventli ;  so  again,  take  the  first  in  order, 
and  set  him  apart  from  the  six  who  stand  below  him,  and  if  the 
number  of  them  who  are  taken  from  him  make  up  the  number  of 
six,  he  then  may  and  must  necessarily  be  called  the  seventh. 
Just  thus  it  is  in  the  days  of  the  week ;  the  first  Sabbath  irom 
the  creation  might  be  called  the  seventh  day  in  respect  of  the  six 
days  before  it;  and  ibis  first  day  of  the  week  may  be  called  the 
HVenth  day  also,  in  respect  of  the  six  working  days  together  aflw 


JTUE   CIUKUK    OF   Tll^   SABHAIU.  191 

It  That  may  be  callc<)  the  last  seventli,  this  ihc  BrsI  seventlt, 
without  anv  absurdity  of  account,  which  some  would  iinagioe  ; 
Md  if  this  first  day  ol'  the  week  is  called  (hu  eighth  day,  iiecord- 
iag  to  Ezekii.'re  prophecy  of  evangelical  tiroes,  and  lib  reckoning 
onward  from  the  creniJon,  (Eeek.  xliii.  27.)  why  may  it  not  then 
in  other  respects  put  on  the  name  of  a  seventh  day  also? 

The$it  9.  The  reason  why  the  Ix>rd  should  depose  the  last 
•erenlh,  iuid  exali  and  crown  the  first  of  seven  to  be  the  day  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  is  not  go  well  considered,  and  therefore 
to  be  here  narrowly  examined.  For  as  for  thofe  eastern  Chrix- 
tions,  who,  in  the  primitive  limes,  oliscrved  two  Sabbaths  in  a 
week,  the  Jewish  and  tiie  Christian,  doubtless  their  milk  sod  over, 
icd  Uieir  seal  went  beyond  the  rule.  The  number  of  Jew§  who 
were  bebevers,  and  yet,  too,  too  zealous  of  their  old  customs,  we 
know  did  fill  those  places  in  their  dispersion,  and  before  more  than 
llie  western  and  more  r«moie  parts,  and  therefore  they  might  more 
powerfully  iofect  those  io  the  east;  and  they,  to  giunu- keep  them, 
'  night  more  readily  comply  with  them.  Let  us  dierefore  see 
bto  the  reasons  of  ihb  change  from  one  seventh  onto  another. 

Thrtit  10.  The  good  wiU  of  Him  who  is  Lord  of  the  Sab- 
Mlb,  is  the  first  ellicienl  and  primary  cause  of  the  institution  of  a 
WW  Sabbath ;  but  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  bein|;  upon  the  first 
3>y  of  the  week,  (Mark  xvi.  9,)  is  the  secondary,  moral,  or  moving 
•Skuse  hereof:  the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection  being  Cbrisl's 
Joyful  day  for  his  people's  deliverance,  and  the  world's  restitution 
d  new  creation,  it  ia  no  wonder  if  the  Lord  Christ  appoint  it, 
d  the  apostles  preach  and  publish  it,  and  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians observe  it  as  their  holy  and  joyful  day  of  rest  and  consola- 
lioo.  For  some  notable  work  of  God  upon  A  day  being  ever  tbe 
"al  cause  of  sanctifying  ihe  day.  hence  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion being  finished  upon  the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  it 
rlieiiig  ihu  most  glorious  work  that  ever  was,  and  wherein  Christ 
was  first  most  gloriously  manifeiiled  to  have  rested  from  it,  (Kom. 
i  4,)  hence  the  Lord  Christ  might  have  good  cause  to  honor  this 
day  above  all  others ;  and  what  other  cause  there  should  be  uf 
tite  public  solemn  assemblies  in  the  primitive  churches,  upon  the 
fint  tiny  in  the  week,  than  this  glorious  work  of  Cbrisl's  resur- 
rection upon  the  same  day  which  began  their  great  joy  fur  the 
rising  of  tlie  Sun  of  Righteousness,  is  scarce  imaginable. 

Thai*  11.     No  action  of  Christ  dotb  of  itself  sanctify  any  time : 

tor  if  it  did,  why  should  we  not  then  keep  as  many  holy  days 

•very  year  as  we  find  holy  actions  of  Christ  recordcil  in  Scriji- 

:,  as  the  superstitious  crew  of  blind  Papists  do  at  this  day? 

.  if  Go<l,  who  is  ihe  Lord  of  time,  shall  sanctify  any  such  day 


or  time  iftierein  ittiy  such  ttrrlion  is  done,  such  a  daj  then  is  to  be 
kepi  holy ;  and  therefore  if  the  will  of  God  hath  sanctified  the 
day  of  Christ's  resurrection,  we  may  lawfully  sanctify  ibe  same 
day  ;  and  therefore  Mr.  Braboum  doth  us  wrong,  as  if  we  made 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  merely  to  be  the  cause  of  the  change 
of  this  day. 

netit  12.  Why  the  will  of  God  should  honor  the  day  of 
Christ's  resurrection  aa  holy,  rather  than  any  other  day  of  his 
incarnation,  birth,  passion,  ascension  :  It  is  this;  because  Christ's 
rising  day  was  his  resting  or  Sabbath  day,  wherein  he  first 
entered  into  his  rest,  and  whereon  his  rest  began.  For  the  Sab- 
bath, or  rest  day,  of  the  Lord  our  God,  only  can  be  our  rest  day, 
according  to  the  fourth  commandment.  Hence  the  day  of  God's 
rest  from  the  work  of  creation,  and  the  day  of  Christ's  rest  from 
the  work  of  i^edemplion,  are  only  fit  and  capable  of  being  our 
Subbntlis.  Now,  the  Lord  Christ,  in  the  day  of  his  incarnation 
and  birth,  did  not  enier  into  his  rest,  but  rather  made  entrance 
into  his  labor  and  sorrow,  who  then  began  the  work  of  humilia- 
tion, (Gal.  ir.  4,  5 ;)  and  in  the  day  of  his  passion,  he  was  then 
under  the  sorest  part  and  feeling  of  his  labor,  in  bitter  agonies* 
upon  the  cross  and  in  the  garden.  And  hence  it  ia  that  none  of 
those  days  were  consecrated  to  be  our  Sabbath,  or  rest  days, 
which  were  days  of  Christ's  labor  and  sorrow  j  nor  could  the 
day  of  liis  ascension  be  fit  to  be  made  our  Sabbath,  because, 
although  Christ  then  and  thereby  entered  into  his  place  of  rest, 
(the  third  heavens,)  yet  did  he  not  then  make  his  first  entrance 
into  his  estate  of  rest,  which  was  in  the  day  of  his  resurrection ; 
the  wisdom  and  will  of  God  did  therefore  choose  this  day  above 
any  other  to  be  the  Sabbath  day. 

7%«m  13.  Those  that  go  about  (as  some  of  late  have  done) 
to  make  Christ's  ascension  day  the  ground  of  our  Sabbalh  day, 
had  need  be  fearful  lest  they  lose  the  truth  and  go  beyond  it, 
while  they  aiTecl  some  new  discoveries  of  it,  which  seems  to  be 
the  case  here.  For  though  Christ  at  his  ascension  entered  into 
his  place  of  rest,  yet  the  place  is  but  an  accidental  thing  to 
Christ's  rest  itself,  the  stale  of  which  was  began  in  the  day  of  his 
resurrection ;  and  therefore  there  is  no  reason  to  prefer  that 
which  is  but  accidental  above  that  which  is  most  aubstwlial ;  or 
the  day  of  entrance  into  the  place  of  his  rest  in  bis  asceni>ion 
before  the  day  of  rest  in  his  resurrection  ;  beside,  it  is  very  un- 
certain whether  Christ  ascended  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week; 
wo  are  certain  that  he  arose  then ;  and  why  we  should  build  such 
a  vast  change  upon  »u  uncerlainly  I  know  not.  And  yet  sup- 
pose that,  by  deduction  and  strength  of  wit,  it  might  be  found  out, 


■  TUt  ctiA.vc.e  ov  Titi:  sabdatu.  193 

■  jet  we  see  not  llie  lialj  (ihoat  expressly  setting  it  down,  vis., 
KtltBt  Christ  ascended  upon  ilie  drst  day  of  tlie  week,  which,  if 
I -ke  had  iDtended  to  have  mode  the  ground  of  our  Cbristiiwi  Sab- 
■Mth,  be  would  surely  have  done  ;  the  lii^t  dttj  in  the  week-being 
■ever  accounted  llio  Lord's  day  in  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  no 
I  wber  first  day  do  wo  find  mentioned  on  which  be  ascended,  but 
K«tily  on  that  day  wherein  he  aro»  from  the  dead. 

K  7%Mt«  II.  And  took,  OS  Christ  waa  a  Lumb  slain  from  the 
rnundotion  of  the  world  raerlloriously,  but  not  aclutilly,  so  he 
I'iraa  also  risen  again  in  the  like  manner  from  the  fouudntion  of 
Vthe  world  meritoriously,  but  not  aciuully.     Hence  it  is,  llmt  look, 

■  H  God  the  Father  actually  instituted  no  Sabbalh  day,  until  he 
I  Iwd  actually  (tni^lied  bid  work  of  creation,  so  neither  was  it  meet 
r  Had  thjij  d»y  should  be  changed  until  Christ  Jeaus  had  actually 
W  Aniitheil  (and  not  meritoriously  only)  the  work  of  redemption  or 
I  Kllorslion ;  and  hence  it  is  that  the  cburuh.  before  Christ's 
I  floming,  night  have  good  reason  (o  sanclity  that  day,  which  was 
L  {natiluted  upon  the  actual  finishing  of  the  work  of  creation,  and 

■  yet  miglit  have  do  reason  lo  observe  our  Christian  Sabbath  ;  the 
1  Work  of  restoration  and  new  creation,  and  rest  from  it.  Dot 
rbeiag  Ihcti  so  much  as  actually  begun.  _^ 

■  Thetit  15.  Whether  our  Saviour  appointed  that  first  indi-t 
Bgidaal  day  of  hie  resurrection  to  be  the  first  Christian  Sabbath  \ 
^Ht  Bomewntu  ditBcult  lo  determine ;  and  1  would  not  tie  knots, 
Kind  leave  them  for  others  to  unloose.  This  only  I  aim  at :  that  J 
B|d>lu>ugh  the  first  individual  day  of  Christ's  resurrection  should 
E')MH  pusHibly  be  the  first  individual  Sabbath,  yet  still  the  resur- 
I  nciion  of  Christ  is  the  ground  of  the  institution  of  the  !jabbath, 

■  which  one  consideration  dosheth  all  those  devices  of  some  men's 
m  Jwnds,  who  puzzle  their  readers  with  many  intricacies  and  dilfi- 
I  mIiios,  in  showing  that  the  first  day  of  Christ's  resurrection  could 
I  MI  he  the  first  Sabbath,  and  tbeuce  would  infer  that  the  day  of 
I  bis  resurrection  was  not  the  ground  of  the  institution  of  the 
W,  Sal>l>atb,  which  inference  is  roost  fuUe ;  for  it  was  easy  with 
I  Christ  to  make  that  great  work  on  this  day  to  be  the  ground  of 
I  ttc  institution  of  it,  some  time  aller  that  work  was  past. 

I  n«*it  16.  The  sin  and  fall  of  man  having  defaced  and 
I  Ipoitad  (tie  jure,  though  not  de  fuclo)  the  whole  work  of  crea- 
I  tiwi,  as  the  learned  Bishop  Lake  well  observes,  it  was  nut  so 
I  Beet  thcrefure  that  the  Sabbath  should  be  ever  kept  in  respect 
I  tt  tliat  work,  but  rather  in  respect  of  this  new  creation  or  resto- 
l<Mion  uf  all  things  by  Christ,  after  the  actual  accomplishment 
k>ti>fr(!«f  in  the  day  of  his  resurrection.  But  look,  as  God  the 
ll^ather  having  created  the  world  in  six  days,  he  rested  therefore 
\         voi»  III.  17 


194  THK   CHA.NGK   OF   THK   SAttBAtll. 

and  EanttiSed  the  seventh,  so  this  work  being  spoiled  and 
marred  by  man's  sin.  and  ihe  new  creation  being  finished  and 
ended,  the  Lord  thcrefoi-u  rested  ibe  first  day  of  the  week,  and 
therefore  Mini;lifii.-d  ii. 

TJieiii  17.  The  fourth  coniniandmeut  gives  in  the  reasoti 
why  God  Banctilied  the  sevenih  day  from  ihe  creation,  viz, : 
bei^use  God  rested  on  that  day,  and,  as  it  is  in  Ex.  xizi.  17, 
was  refnished  in  it,  that  ia,  took  a  complacency  and  delight  in 
bis  work  so  done  and  so  finished.  But  the  sin  of  man  in  falling 
from  his  first  creation  made  God  repent  that  ever  he  made  man, 
(Gen.  vi.,)  and  consequently  the  world  for  man,  and  therefore  it 
took  off  that  complacency  or  rest  and  refreshing  in  thia  bis  work  ; 
if,  tlterefore,  Ihe  Lord  betake  himself  to  work  a  new  work,  a  new 
creation  or  renovation  of  all  things  in  and  by  his  Son,  iu  which  . 
he  will  forever  re^l,  may  not  the  day  of  hia  rest  be  then  jastty 
changed  into  the  first  of  seven,  on  which  day  his  rest  in  his  new 
work  began,  whereof  he  will  never  repent?  If  the  Lord  vary 
his  rest,  may  not  he  vary  the  time  and  day  of  it  ?  Nay,  must 
not  the  time  and  day  of  our  rest  be  varied,  because  the  ground 
of  God's  rest  in  a  new  work  is  changed  ? 

TXem's  18.  As  it  was  no  necessary  duly,  tliereforfl,  perpetu- 
ally to  observe  that  seventh  day  wherein  God  first  rested,  because 
his  i^st  on  that  day  is  now  change<l,  so  also  it  is  not  necessary 
orderly  to  observe  those  six  days  of  labor,  wherein  he  first 
labored  and  built  the  world,  of  which,  for  the  sin  of  man,  he  is 
said  to  have  repented ;  yet  notwithstanding,  though  it  be  no 
necessary  duly  to  observe  those  particular  six  days  of  labor,  and 
that  sevenih  of  rest,  jel  it  is  a  moral  duty  (as  hath  been  proved) 
to  observe  six  days  tor  labor,  and  a  seventh  for  rest ;  and  hence 
it  follows  that,  although  the  Lord  Christ's  rest  on  the  day  of  hia 
resurrection  (the  first  day  of  the  week)  might  and  may  justly 
be  taken  as  a  ground  of  our  rest  on  the  same  day,  yet  his 
labor  in  the  work  of  redemption  three  and  thirty  years  and  up- 
ward, all  the  days  of  his  life  and  humiliation,  could  not  nor 
can  not  justly  be  made  the  ground  or  example  of  our  labor,  so  as 
we  must  labor  and  work  thirty-three  years  together  before  wo 
keep  a  Sabbath  the  day  of  Christ's  rest.  Because,  although  God 
could  alter  and  change  the  day  of  rest  without  infringement 
of  the  morality  of  the  fourth  commandment,  yet  he  could  not 
make  the  example  of  Christ's  labor  thirty-three  years  together 
the  ground  and  example  of  our  continuance  in  our  work,  with- 
out manifest  breach  of  that  moral  rule,  vir. :  that  man  shall 
have  sis  days  together  for  liilwr,  and  the  seventh  for  rest.  For 
man  may  rest  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  withal  observe  six 


i    OF    TIIE    SABBATH. 


f 

^B    days  for  labor,  and  so  keep  the  fourth  commnndraent;  but  he 
^V    can  not  labor  thirty-three  years  together,  and  then  keep  a  Sabbath, 
^      without  apparent  breach  of  the  same  commainlineni  i  and  there- 
fore that  argument  of  Master  Braboum  against  our  Chriatian 
Sabbath  melts  into  vatiity,  wherein  he  urgetb  an  equity  of  the 
change  of  the  days  of  our  labor, "  either  three  days  only  together, 

>(a&  Christ  did  lie  in  the  grave,}  or  thirty-three  years  togethtir,  (aa 
be  did  all  the  daya  of  bb  humiliation,)  in  case  we  will  moke  a 
change  of  the  Sabbath,  from  the  change  of  the  day  of  Christ's 
rest."  And  yet  I  confess  ingenuously  with  him,  that  if  the  Lord 
hod  not  instituted  the  lirHt  day  of  the  week  to  be  our  Christian 
Sabbath,  all  these  and  such  like  arguings  and  reasonings  were 
invalid  to  prove  a  change ;  for  man's  reason  hath  nothing  to  do 
to  change  days  without  divine  appointment  and  institution :  these 

I  tiling  only  I  meniiou  why  the  wisdom  of  God  might  well  alter 
fbe  day.  The  proofs  that  he  hath  changed  it  shall  follow  in 
due  place. 
Tllen't  19.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  may  therefore  be  one 
ground,  not  only  of  the  sanctilication  of  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
but  also  a  sufficient  ground  of  the  abrogation  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath.  For,  first,  the  greater  light  may  darken  the  less  and 
k  greater  work  (as  the  restoration  of  the  world  above  the 
ereatioa  of  it)  tnay  overshadow  the  less.  (Jer.  xxiii.  7-8 ;  Ex. 
zii.  2.)  '  Secondly,  man's  sin  spoiled  the  firat  re^t,  and  therefore 
tile  day  of  it  might  be  justly  abrogated.  For  the  horrible  wrath 
of  God  had  been  immediately  punred  upon  man,  (as  might  be 
proved,  atid  as  it  was  upon  the  lapsed  angels,)  and  consequently 
npon  all  creatures  for  man's  sake,  if  Christ  bad  not  ^ven  the 
Father  rest,  for  whose  sake  the  world  was  made,  (Rev.  iv.  11,) 
and  by  whose  means  and  mediation  the  world  continues  as  now 
It  doih.    (John  vi.  22.) 

Tb»iit  20.  Yet  although  Christ's  resurrection  be  one  ground 
not  only  of  the  institution  of  the  new  Sabbath,  but  also  of  the 
abro^Uion  of  the  old,  yet  it  is  not  the  only  ground  why  the  old 
was  abrogated ;  for  (as  hath  been  shown)  there  was  some  type 
dExed  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  by  reason  of  which  there  was 
jnM  cause  to  abrogate,  or  rather  (as  Calvin  calls  it)  to  transUte 

Ithe  Sabbath  to  another  day.  And,  therefore,  this  dasheth 
•notber  of  Mr.  Itraboum's  dreams,  who  argues  the  continuancs 
of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  because  there  is  a  possibility  for  all 
Mtions  still  to  observe  iu  "  For,"  saith  he,  "  can  not  we  in  Eng- 
land as  well  as  they  at  Jcnisalcm  remember  that  Sabbath  ? 
Secondly,  rest  in  it.  Thirdly,  keep  it  holy.  Fourthly,  keep  the 
whole  ijay  holy.     Fifthly,  the  Inst  of  Mren.     Sixthly,  and  all 


this  tn  imitation  of  God,  Could  no  nation  (sailb  he)  besides 
the  Jews  observe  these  six  things  ?  "  Ye»,  verily,  that  they  could 
in  roapect  of  natural  ability ;  but  I  he  questiun  i»  nut  what  men  may 
or  might  do,  but  wliat  they  ouglil  to  do,  and  sliould  do.  For 
besides  the  chnnge  of  God's  rest  through  the  work  or  the  Son, 
there  was  &  lypu  affixed  lo  that  Jewish  Sabbath,  for  which  cause 
it  may  justly  vanish  ot  Christ's  death,  as  well  as  other  types,  ia 
respect  of  the  alfixed  type,  which  was  but  accidecUil ;  and  yet 
be  continued  and  preserved  in  another  day,  being  originidly  and 
essentially  moral.  A  Sabbath  was  instituted  in  parodiee,  equally 
honored  by  God  in  the  decalogue  with  alt  other  moral  laws, 
foretold  to  continue  in  the  days  of  the  gospel,  by  Ezekiel  and 
Isaiah,  (Exek.  xliii.  ult. ;  Is.  Ivi.  4-6,)  and  commended  by  Christ, 
who  bida  his  people  pray  that  their  flight  may  not  b«  in  the 
winter  or  Sabbath  day,  as  it  were  enay  to  open  these  places 
against  all  cavils ;  and  therefore  it  is  for  substance  moral  Yet 
the  word  Sabbatism,  (Ileb.  iv.  9,)  and  the  apostle's  gradation 
from  yearly  holy  days  to  monthly  new  moons,  and  from  ihem  to 
weekly  Sabbaths,  which  are  called  "shadows  of  things  to  come," 
(Col.  ii.  16,)  seems  strongly  to  argue  some  type  affixed  to  those 
individual  Sabbaths,  or  Jewish  seventh  days;  and  hence  it  is, 
perhaps,  that  the  Sabbath  ia  set  among  moral  laws  in  the  deca- 
logue, being  originally  and  essen^ally  moral,  and  yet  is  set 
among  ceremonial  feast  days,. (Lev-  xxiii.  2,  3.)  because  it  is  ac- 
cidentally typicaL  And  Iherelbre  Mr.  Braboum  need  not  rmse 
such  a  duEt,  and  cry  out,  "  O,  monstrous  I  very  strange  1  what  a 
mingle-mangle  I  what  an  hotchpotch  have  we  here  I  wliat  a  con- 
fusion and  jumbling  of  things  so  fur  distant,  as  when  morals  and 
ceremoniab  are  here  mingled  together  1 "  No.  verily,  we  do  not 
make  the  fourth  commandment  essentially  ceremonial ;  but  being 
accidentally  so,  why  may  it,  notwithstanding  this,  be  mingled 
among  the  rest  of  tie  morals?  Let  one  solid  reason  be  given, 
but  away  with  words. 

TMent  21.  If  the  qucslitm  be,  What  type  is  affixed  ond  an- 
nexed to  the  Subbath  ?  I  think  il  ditficaU  lo  find  out,  although 
man's  wanton  wit  can  easily  allegorize  and  readily  frame  imagi- 
nations enough  in  this  point.  Some  think  it  typified  Christ's 
rest  in  the  grave;  but  I  fear  this  will  not  hold,  no  more  than 
many  other  Popish  conjectures,  wherein  their  allegorizing  poe- 
tilera  abound.  Bullinger  and  some  others  think  that  it  waa  typ- 
ical in  respect  of  the  peculiar  sacriftceB  annexed  to  it,  which 
sacriiices  were  types  of  Christ.  (Num.  sxviii.  9.)  And  although 
much  might  he  said  for  this  against  that  which  Mr.  Brnbourn 
replies,  yet  I  fee  nothing  cogent  in  tliis  ;  for  the  multiplying  of 


TBE   CHA»OE   OF  THK    SABBATH.  197 


eacrifiees  (whirh  were  partes  cuHus  imtiluli)  on  lliia  day  proves 
rather  a  specialty  of  worshiping  God  more  aliunilttnlly  on  this 
diiy  timn  any  ceremon  lain  ess  in  il ;  for  if  ihe  offering  of  socrilices 
merely  should  make  a  day  cerenioiiial,  why  did  it  not  raaka 
every  day  ceremonial  in  respect  of  every  day's  offering  of  the 
morning  and  evening  sacriKce  ?  Some  think  that  our  rest 
upon  the  Sabbath  {not  God  the  Father's  rest,  as  Mr.  Bra- 
rn  turns  it)  waa  made  not  only  a  resemblance,  but  abo  « 
type,  of  our  rest  in  Clirist,  of  whicb  tlie  apostle  speaks,  (Heb. 
VI,  3,)  wbicb  is  therefore  called  a  Sabbatum,  (ver.  9,)  or  keeping 
of  a  nabbaih,  as  ibe  word  «igni(i<.-s.  What  others  would  infer 
from  this  place  to  make  the  Sabbaili  to  be  merely  ceremonial, 
and  what  Mr.  Brabourn  would  anst^er  from  hence,  that  it  is  not 
at  all  ceremonial,  may  both  of  them  be  easily  answered  here 
Kgain,  as  already  they  have  been  in  some  of  the  former  theses. 
Some  scruples  I  see  not  yet  through,  about  this  lest,  enforce  me 
herein  to  be  silent,  and  therefore  lo  leave  it  to  such  as  think  they 
may  defend  it,  as  one  ground  of  some  ailiied  type  unto  the  Jew- 
iab  Sabbath. 

Tketi*  2'2.  Learned  Junius  goes  before  us  herein,  and  points 
out  the  type  affixed  to  that  Sabbath.  For  besides  the  first  insti- 
tution of  it  in  [uu-adise,  he  makes  two  other  causes,  which  be 
«dla  accessory,  or  affixed  and  added  to  il,  1-  One  was  eiviJit, 
or  civil,  that  men  and  beosis  might  rest  from  their  toilsome  labor 
every  week.  2.  CereittoHtalii,  or  ceremonial,  for  their  solemn 
oommemoration  of  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  which  we 
know  typified  our  deli vernnce  by  Christ.  (DeuU  v.  15.)  Some 
ihink,  indeed,  that  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  was  upon  the 
8iiibbaih  day ;  but  this  I  do  not  urge,  because,  though  it  be  very 
probable,  yet  il  is  not  certain ;  only  this  is  certain,  that  they 
were  lo  sanctify  this  day  because  of  this  their  deliverance ;  and 
H  is  certain  this  deliverance  was  typical  of  our  deliverance  by 
Christ :  and  henee  it  is  certain  that  there  was  a  type  nffiited  to 
this  Sabbath  ;  and  because  the  Scripture  is  eo  plain  and  express 
in  il,  I  um  inclined  to  think  the  some  which  Junius  dolb,  thai 
tills  is  the  type  rather  than  any  other  I  have  yet  heard  of; 
■l^nst  whicb  I  know  many  things  may  be  objected  ;  only  it  may 
be  sufficient  lo  clear  up  the  place  against  that  which  Mr.  Bro- 

Thetii  23.  "  The  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,"  sairb  he,  "  is  not 
■nt  down  as  the  ground  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  but  Oidy 


o  the  ob: 


ther 


Uie  preface  to  the  decalogui 
command,  which,  iratwiths landing. 


the  obediei 


e  general  ii 
r  every  c 


:  not  ceremonial ;  for  God 


^ftilh,  I  am  the  Lor<l,  nho  brouglil  tliee  out  of  H^ypt ;  thereroro 
keep  thou  lilt;  tir^I,  tiie  Fcn>n(l,  the  [liinl,  ihi?  Iil>h,  ih^  sixth,  es 
well  Oo  tlie  fourth  ooiomundiiienl ;  and  therefore,  nuilli  he,  we 
IDBJ  make  ererj  coiniDBiidment  ceremoniul  as  well  as  the  Sab- 
bath, if  the  motive  of  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  makes  Ihe  Sab- 
bath to  be  po."  Thb  is  tlie  substance  and  sinews  of  hi»  discourse 
herein ;  and  I  confers  it  is  true,  tbeir  deliverance  out  of  Egypt 
was  not  the  first  ground  of  the  institution  of  it,  but  God's  rest 
after  his  six  days'  labor;  yet  it  was  such  a  ground  as  we  ooiilend 
for,  viz.,  a  secondary,  and  an  annexed  or  affixed  ground.  And 
that  it  was  not  a  tnolive  only  to  observe  that  day,  (as  it  is  in  the 
preface  to  the  decalogue,)  but  a  superadded  ground  of  it,  may 
appear  from  this  one  consideration,  viz.,  because  that  very  ground 
on  which  the  Lord  urgeth  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath  in 
Ex.  XX.  11  is  wholly  left  out  in  Ihe  repetition  of  the  law,  (E)eut> 
V.  15,)  and  tbeir  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  put  into  the  room 
thereof;  for  the  grouml  in  Ex.  xx.  1 1  is  this :  "  Six  days  God 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  and  sancti- 
fied it ;  "  but  instead  of  these  words,  and  of  this  ground,  we  find 
other  words  put  into  their  room,  (Deut.  v.  15:)  "Iteraerober  thou 
wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  that  the  Lord  brought 
thee  out  thence  with  a  mighty  hand ;  therefore  the  Lord  thy  God 
commandeth  thee  to  keep  the  Sabbath."  Which  seems  to  argue 
strongly  that  these  words  are  not  a  mere  motive,  but  anollier 
ground  of  the  observation  of  rhe  Sabbath.  And  why  might  not 
the  general  motive  in  the  preface  to  the  decalogue  serve  as  a 
snfficient  motive  to  the  obedience  of  this  commandment,  if  there 
was  no  more  but  a  motive  in  these  words  of  Deuteronomy ;  and 
therefore  I  suppose  this  was  also  the  ground  and  affixed  tyjie  unto 
the  ,lewish  Sabbath. 

7%#«i«  24.  But  Biill  Ihediffirulty  remains;  for  Mr.  Brabourn 
wilt  sny  that  those  were  but  human  reasons  :  but  what  ground  is 
there*  from  Scripture  fur  the  institution  of  another  Sabbath,  as 
well  as  the  abrogation  of  the  old  ?  which  if  it  be  not  cleared,  I 
confess  this  cause  sinks:  here,  therefore, let  it  be  again  observed 
that  we  are  not  to  expect  such  evidence  from  Scripture  concern- 
ing this  change,  (as  fond  and  humorous  wit  sometimes  pleads  for,) 
in  tliii  controversy,  namely,  that  Christ  should  come  with  drum 
and  trumpet,  as  it  were,  upon  Mount  Zion,  and  proclwm  by  word 
or  writing,  in  so  many  express  words,  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
is  abrogated,  and  the  first  day  of  the  week  instituted  in  its  room, 
to  be  observed  of  all  Christians  to  the  end  of  the  world.  .  For  it 
la  not  the  Lord's  manner  so  to  speak  in  many  other  things  which 
■ "  \  kingdom,  but  as  it  were  occasionally,  or  in  way  of 


^B  THE   CHANGE   OP  TUK    SABDATtl.  199 

^K.tatlorj.  or  epislle  to  some  jiiirticular  church  or  people  ;  and  thus 

f^^  he  doth  coiicerninf;  ihe  Sabbath  ;  and  yet  Wisdom's  mind  is  plain 

"     mough  to  them  ihnt  undcrslujid.     Nar  do  I  doubt  but  that  those 

scripnireB  which  arc  sometimes  alleged  tor  the  change  of  the 

Sabbath,  although  at  the  first  blush  ihey  may  not  seem  to  bear  up 

the  weight  of  this  muse,  yet  being  thoroughly  considered,  ihoy 

III      are  not  only  suilicient  to  stablish  modest  mind<i,  but  are  also  Huch 

|k  ■■  may  t-nmiofilieir,  or  slop  the  mouths  eren  of  wranglers  them- 

■  »lve«. 

11^  TKmi*  2.5.  I  do  not  think  that  the  exercise  of  holy  duties  on 
a  dity  argues  that  such  a  day  is  the  Christian  Sabbmh  day  i  for 
the  apostles  preached  commouly  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbath, 
Mmetimes  upon  the  tirsi  day  of  the  weelt  also  ;  and  therefore  the 
bare  exercise  of  holy  duties  on  a  day  is  no  suindenl  argument 

Idut  either  the  one  or  the  other  is  the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  for 
Aen  there  might  be  two  Siibbnilis.  yea.  many  Sabbaths,  in  a 
week,  because  there  may  he  many  holy  duties  in  several  days 
of  the  week,  which  we  know  is  against  the  morality  of  the  fourth 
COmnuindmcnt. 
Thcm't  2C.  Vel,  notwithatanding,  although  holy  duties  on  a 
day  do  not  argue  such  a  day  to  be  our  Sabbath,  yel  that  day 
which  is  set  apart  for  Sabbath  services  rather  than  any  other 
iMy,  and  u  honored  above  any  other  day  for  that  end,  surely 
mch  a  day  is  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Now,  if  it  may  appear 
that  the  lint  day  of  the  we^k  was  thus  honored,  then  certainly 
it  is  to  be  accounted  Ihe  Christian  Sabbath. 
ThtiU  27.  The  primitive  pattern  churches  thus  honored  the 
flnt  day  of  the  week  ;  and  what  they  practiced  without  reproof, 
diat  the  apostles  (who  plumed  those  churches)  enjoined  and 
preached  unto  them  so  to  do ;  nl  least  in  such  weighty  mallt-rs 
as  the  change  of  days,  of  prcl'erring  one  before  that  other  which 
the  Lord  hath  bonoivd  before  ;  ami  what  the  apostles  preached, 
that  tlie  Lord  Jesus  commanded,  (Mntt.  sxviii.  20,)  "  Go  teach  all 
nations  tlial  which  I  command  you."  Unless  any  shall  think  tliat 
ihe  apostles  sometimes  went  beyond  iheir  commission  to  teach 
tlial  to  others  which  Christ  never  commanded,  which  is  blasphe- 
nous  to  imagine ;  for  though  they  might  err  in  practice  as  men, 
and  ■■  Peter  did  at  Antioch,  and  Faul  and  BarDalma  in  their 
ronienlion,  yet  in  their  public  ministry  they  were  i[>ra1lib1y  and 
cxiraordiaarily  assisted,  especially  in  such  things  which  tlicy 
hold  forth  as  patterns  for  after  times  i  if,  iberdbre,  the  primi- 
tive churches  thns  honored  the  finil  day  of  the  week  alnve  any 
other  day  for  Sabbath  services,  then  certainly  they  were  Jnsti- 
taied  and  taught  thus  to  do  by  tlie  apostles  approving  of  tbrm 


I 

I 

I 

I 


I  from 


2'W  THE  CHANGE  or  THE  SABBATH. 

herein:  nnd  whal  the  aposllea  tmiglil  the  ehiirrlies,l1iat  llie  Lord  1 
Jiisiis  coinmiinded  to  ihe  apostles.     So  that  the  approved  practice 
of  the  churches  herein  shows  whul  was  Ihe  doctrine  of  the 
apostles;  and  tlie  doctrine  of  the  apostles  shows  what  wae  the 
command  of  Christ ;  eo  that  the  sanctiti cation  of  this  first  day 
the  week   is  no  human  Iradilion,  hut  a  divine  iastitutioo  f 
Christ  himself. 

ITtttii  28.  That  the  churches  honored  this  da^  above  any 
other  shall  appear  in  its  place,  as  also  that  the  n[toslleit  com- 
manded them  so  to  do.  Yet. Mr.  Primrose  sailh,  that  this  latter 
IB  doubtful;  and  ilr.  Ironftidc  (not  questioning  the  matter)  falls 
off  with  another  evasion,  viz.,  that  they  acted  herein  not  as  apos- 
tles, but  ns  ordinary  pastors,  and  consequently  as  fallible  men,  not 
only  in  commanding  this  change  of  the  Sabbath,  but  in 'all  other 
mailers  of  church  govemmeni,  (aowng  which  he  reckons  this  of 
the  Sabbath  to  be  one,)  which  he  ihinks  were  imposed  according 
to  iheir  private  wisdom,  as  most  fit  for  those  times,  but  not  by 
any  apostolical  commission  as  concerning  all  times.  But  to  im- 
agine that  matters  of  church  goTcrnmegt  in  the  apostles'  days 
were  coals  for  the  moon  in  respect  of  after  time^,  and  that  the 
form  of  it  is  mutable,  (as  he  would  have  it,)  I  suppose  will  be 
digested  by  few  honest  and  sober  minds  in  these  times,  unless 
they  be  biased  for  a  season  by  politic  ends,  and  therefore  herein 
I  will  not  contend ;  only  it  may  be  considered  whether  any  pri- 
vate spirit  could  abolish  that  day,  which  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  God  so  highly  honoi'ed,  and  then  honor  and  advance 
another  day  above  it,  and  sanctify  it  too  (as  shall  be  proved)  for 
religious  ecrvices.  Could  any  do  this  justly  but  by  immediate 
dispensation  from  the  Lord  Christ  Jesus?  And  if  the  apostles 
did  thus  receive  it  immediately  from  Christ,  and  ao  teach  the  ob- 
servation of  it,  they  could  not  then  teach  it  as  fallible  men  and  as 
private  pastors,  as  he  would  have  it ;  a  pernicious  conceit,  enough 
to  undermine  the  faith  of  God's  elect  in  many  mailers  more 
weighty  than  this  of  the  Sabbalh. 

Thetit  29.  To  know  when  and  where  the  Lord  Christ  in- 
etpucled  his  disciples  concerning  this  change,  is  needle^t^s  to  inquire. 
It  is  suincient  to  believe  this:  thai  what  the  primitive  churches 
exemptarily  practiced,  that  waa  taught  them  by  the  agioslles  uho 
planted  Iheui ;  and  ihal  whatsoever  the  apostles  preached,  the 
Lord  Christ  commanded,  as  hath  been  shown.  Yd  if  the  change 
of  the  Sabbath  be  a  mailer  appertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  Crod, 
why  should  we  doubt  but  that,  within  Ihe  space  of  his  forty  days' 
abode  with  ihem  after  his  resurrection,  he  then  taught  it  them? 
fur  it  is  expressly  said,  that  he  then  taught  them  liuch  things. 


r 
I 


201 

T^ttii  30.  Wlicn  tlie  aposiles  came  among  the  Jews,  they 
preached  usually  ujxia  ihe  Jewish  Sabbaih  ;  but  thid  wiu  not  be- 
CBuite  ihey  did  tliink  or  appoint  it  herein  lo  be  tlie  Christian 
Ssbbatb,  but  that  ihey  might  lake  the  fittest  opportunity  mid  Bea- 
con of  meeting  with,  and  bo  of  preaching  the  goapel  to,  the  Jews 
in  those  times.  For  what  power  had  they  lo  call  them  to< 
geiher  when  they  saw  meet?  Or,  if  they  hud,  yet  was  it  raeet 
for  them  thus  to  do,  before  they  were  sufficiently  instructed  about 
God'ii  mind  for  setting  apart  some  other  time  ?  And  how  could 
tbey  be  sufficiently  and  seasonably  instructed  herein  without 
watching  the  advantage  of  those  limes  which  the  Jews  thought 
were  (he  only  Sabbaths  ?  The  days  of  pentecoel,  pas»over,  and 
hours  of  prayer  in  the  temple  are  lo  be  observed  still  as  well  as 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  if  the  apostles'  preaching  on  their  Sabbaths 
argues  the  continuance  of  them,  as  Mr.  Brabourn  argues ;  for  we 
know  that  they  preached  also,  and  went  up  purposely  lo  Jerusa- 
lem, at  such  times,  to  preach  among  them,  aa  well  as  upon  the 
Sabbath  days ;  look  therefore,  as  Ihey  laid  hold  upon  the  days  of 

Setitecost  and  pujisoTer  as  the  Httcst  seasons  to  preach  to  the 
ews,  but  not  thinking  that  such  feasts  should  still  b«  continued, 
M  it  is  in  iheir  preaching  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbaths. 

Thftii  31.  Nor  did  the  apostles  sinfully  Judaize  by  preaching 
to  the  Jews  upon  their  SuiiboLhs,  (as  Mr.  Brabourn  would  infer;) 
supposing  that  their  Sabbaths  should  not  be  still  observed,  they 
■bould  then  Judaize  and  afier  ceremonies,  (saith  he,)  and  so  build 
up  those  things  whicii  they  labored  to  destroy.  For  suppose 
tbey  did  observe  sucli  days  and  Sabbaths  as  were  ceremonial  for 
K  time,  yet  it  being  done  not  in  conscience  of  the  day,  but  in  con- 
science of  taking  so  fit  a  season  to  preach  the  goepel  In,  it  could 
not  nor  can  not  be  any  sinful  Judaizing,  especially  while  then 
the  Jews  were  not  sufficiently  instructed  about  the  abolishing  of 
those  things.  For  Mr.  Brabourn  could  not  but  know  that  all 
the  Jewish  ceremonies,  being  once  the  ap|)oinlment  of  God,  were 
to  have  an  honorable  burial,  and  that  therefore  ihcy  might  be 
lawfully  observed  for  a  time  among  the  Jews,  until  they  were 
more  fully  instructed  about  them ;  and  hence  Paul  circumcised 
Timothy  because  of  the  Jews,  (Acts  xvi.  3,)  and  did  olbor- 
wiie  confuriu  to  them,  that  so  he  might  win  and  gain  the  more 
upon  tbcm ;  and  if  Paul  observed  purposely  a  Jewish  ceremony 
«  eircumcision  which  was  not  necessary,  nay,  which  was  not 
lawful  to  b«  observed  among  the  Gentiles,  (Gal.  v.  2,)  and  yet  he 


preach  the  goapel,  which  i 


itself  a  necessary  duty,  ui>0[)  ii 


bwbb  Snbbalh  which  fell  oul  occosiooally  10  him,  and  therefore 


I 


THE   CHANGE   OF  THE 


might  lawfully  be  observed  for  such  an  end  among  ihe  Jews, 
which  among  the  Gentilea  might  be  unlawful  ?  Suppose  there- 
fore tbtit  lUe  apostles  might  bave  Inughl  Iho'Jen-e  from  huu^  to 
house,  (as  Mr-  Braboum  argues  against  the  neeesfiitj  put  upon 
the  apostles  to  preach  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbath,)  yet  what  reason 
or  conscience  was  there  to  lose  the  opportunity  of  public  preach- 
ing for  the  more  plentiful  gathering  in  of  souls,  when  many  are 
met  together,  and  which  may  lawfully  be  done,  and  he  contented 
only  to  seek  their  good  in  such  private  ways  ?  And  wlrnt  although. 
Paul  did  assemble  the  chief  of  the  Jews  together  at  Rome,  when 
he  was  a  prisoner,  to  acquaint  them  with  civil  matters  about  bis 
imprisonment,  (Acts  xxviii.  17  ;}  yet  had  be  power  to  do  thus  in 
all  places  where  be  came  f  or  was  it  meet  for  him  so  to  do  ?  Did 
not  he  submit  the  appointment  of  a  sacred  assembly  to  hear  the 
word  rather  unto  them  than  assume  it  to  himself?  (Acts  xsv iii. 
23.)  It  is  therefore  false  and  unsound  which  Hr.  Brahourn 
aflirras,  vii.,  tliat  Paul  did  preach  on  the  Jewish  Sabbath  in  con- 
science of  the  day,  not  merely  with  respect  of  the  opportunity  he 
then  took  from  their  own  public  meetings  then  to  preach  to 
tliem ;  for  (saith  he)  Paul  had  power  to  assemble  them  together 
,  on  other  days.  This,  I  say,  is  both  false ;  for  he  that  wm  so 
much  spoken  against  among  them  might  not  in  all  pla'^e.s  be  able 
to  put  forth  such  a  power;  as  also  it  is  unsound  ;  for  suppose  he 
had  such  a  power,  yet  whether  it  was  so  meet  for  him  to  put  it 
forth  in  appointing  other  times,  may  be  easily  judged  of  by  what 
hath  been  said. 

TTuiis  32.  Nor  is  there  a  foundation  here  laid  of  making  all 
other  actions  of  the  apostles  unwarrantable  or  unimiiable,  (as  Mr. 
Braboum  saith,)  because  we  are  not  to  imitate  the  apostles  herein 
in  preaching  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbaths.  For  no  actions  either 
of  Christ  or  the  apostles,  which  were  done  merely  in  respect  of 
some  special  occasion,  or  special  reason,  are,  ea  tenui,  or  in  that 
respect,  binding  to  others ;  for  the  example  of  Christ  eating  the 
Iiord'a  supper  only  with  men,  not  women,  in  an  upper  chamber, 
and  toward  the  dark  evening,  doth  not  bind  ua  to  exclude  women, 
or  not  to  celebrate  in  other  places  and  times,  because  we  know 
that  these  actions  were  merely  occasioned  in  respect  of  special 
reasons,  (as  the  eating  of  the  passover  with  one's  own  family, 
Christ's  family  not  consisting  of  women,)  so  it  is  here  in  respect 
of  the  Sabbath.  Tlie  apostles  preaching  upon  the  Jewish  Sab- 
baths was  merely  occasional,  by  occasion  of  the  public  meetings 
(their  liiiest  lime  to  do  good  in)  wliich  were  upon  this  and  any 
other  day. 

TTiettM  33.     Now,  although  the  Jews  observing  this  day,  the 


[ 


tposlles  observed  il  among  the  Jen-g  by  preaching'  among  them, 
Tel  we  slinlt  (iiid  thai  amoii}:  the  Cliristian  Gentile  churches  and 
believers,  (where  no  Judaism  wna  U>  be  eo  mueJi  as  loleraled  for  " 

,)  not  any  such  dity  vna  thus  observed  ;  nay,  another  day, 
the  first  day  in  the  week,  is  honored  and  preferred  by  the  apos- 
tles above  any  other  day  in  ihe  week  for  religious  and  Sabbath 
■ervictis.  Fur,  alihougb  holy  duties  do  not  argue  always  a  holy 
day,  yet  when  we  shail  find  the  Hoiy  Ghost  single  out  and  nomi- 
nate one  particular  day  to  be  observed  and  honored  rather  than 
any  other  day,  and  rather  tlian  the  Jewish  seventh  day  itself,  for 
Sobbttlb  services  and  holy  duties,  this  undeniably  proves  that  duy 
to  be  the  Chri^itian  Sablmth,  and  this  we  shall  make  evident  to 
be  the  Brut  day  of  the  week  ;  which  one  thing  seriously  minded 
(if  proved)  doth  utterly  subvert  the  whole  frame  and  force  of 
Mr.  Brabcum's  shady  discourse  for  the  observation  of  the  Jewish 
SKbbaUi.  and  luoit  effectually  establisbech  the  Christian  Sabballi. 
Hr.  Brahoum  therefore  herein  bestirs  his  wits,  and  tells  us,  on  the 
contrary,  that  Paul  preached  not  only  to  the  Jews,  but  even  unto 
Ihe  Gentiles,  upon  tliis  Jewish  Siibbatli,  rather  than  any  other 
day:  and  fur  this  end  brings  double  proof:  one  is  Acts  xiii.  42,  44, 
Vhere  the  Gentiles  are  said  to  desire  Paul  to  preacli  to  them, 
^  lu  fittaii  aiGSatai',  i.  e^  Ihe  week  Ijetween.  or  any  day  be- 
tween till  the  next  Sabbath,  (as  some  translate  it,)  or  (if  Sir. 
Braboum  will)  the  nest  Sabbath,  or  Jewish  Sabbath.  wht;n 
BlsKMt  oil  the  city  came  out  to  hear  Paul,  who  were  most  of  them 
Gentiles,  not  Jews.  Be  it  so,  they  were  Gentiles  indeed ;  but  as 
jet  no  church  or  Christian  church  of  Gentiles  actually  utider 
Christ's  government  and  ordinances,  among  whom  (I  say)  the 
Srst  <lay  of  tlie  week  was  so  much  honored  above  any  other  day 
for  sacred  assemblies.  For  it  is  no  wonder  if  ttie  apostles  yield 
to  their  desires  in  preaching  any  lime  of  the  week  which  they 
tbought  the  best  tim«,  even  upon  the  Jewish  Sabbalh,  among 
whom  the  Jews  being  mingled,  they  might  have  the  fitter  oppor- 
tnoily  to  preach  to  them  also,  and  so  become  all  things  to  all  men 
to  gain  some.  His  second  proof  is  Acts  xvL  12,  13;  and  here 
ho  telU  ud  that  Paul  and  Timothy  preached,  not  to  the  Jews,  but 
to  the  Gentiles,  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  I  confess  they  are  not 
called  Jtuv  no  more  than  it  is  said  that  they  were  GeiUilr* ;  but 
why  might  not  Lydia  and  her  company  be  Jews  or  Jewish  prose- 

StM,  who,  we  know,  did  observe  the  Jewish  Sabbath  strictly  till 
ey  were  belter  instructed,  aa  they  did  all  other  Jewish  cere- 
monies also?  For  Lydia  is  expressly  said  lo  be  one  who  wor- 
shiped God  before  Paul  came.  Mr.  Braboum  tells  us  they 
were  no  Jewish  proselytes,  because  they  hod  no  Jewish  syna- 


L. 


I 


I 


201  TUK  cnANGi:  vv  tuu  sabbath. 

gogtie,  and  therefore  they  were  fuin  lo  go  out  of  the  city  into  the 
(leliJs,  Ijeside  a  river  to  pray.  I  confess  the  text  saith  that  they 
vrf  lit  out  to  a  river  aide,  where  prayer  waa  tvont  to  bo  made ;  but 
that  this  was  tbo  open  field.',  and  that  there  waa  no  oratory, 
house,  or  pkce  of  shelter  to  meet  and  pray  in,  ihis  is  uot  id  the 
text,  but  it  is  Mr.  Brubourn's  comment  and  gloas  on  it.  But  . 
Buppose  it  was  iu  the  open  fields,  and  that  they  had  no  synagogue  i 
yet  will  it  follow  that  these  were  not  Jews  ?  Might  not  the  Jews 
be  in  a  Gentile  city  for  a  time,  without  any  synagogue,  especially 
if  their  number  ))e  hut  small,  and  thia  smiill  uumber  consist 
ehiefly  of  women,  as  it  seems  this  did,  whose  heartii  God  touehed, 
leaving  their  husbands  to  their  own  ways?  If  they  were  not 
Jews,  or  Jewish  proMlytes,  why  did  they  ehooee  the  Sabbath 
day,  (which  the  Jews  eo  much  set  by,)  rather  than  any  other,  lo 
pray  and  worship  God  It^ether  in  ?  But  verUy  such  answers  aa 
those,  wherewith  the  poor  man  abounds  in  his  treatise,  make  me 
estremely  fear  that  he  rather  stretched  his  conscience  than  was 
acted  by  a  plain  deluded  conscience  in  this  point  of  the  Sabbath. 
TTieiit  34.  It  remains,  therefore,  to  prove  thai  the  first  day 
of  the  week  is  the  Christian  Sabbath  by  divine  institution  ;  and  ' 
this  may  nppear  from  those  three  texts  of  Scripture  ordinarily 
alleged  for  this  end:  1.  Acts  xx.  7;  2.  1  Cor.  xvi.  2;  9. 
Hev.  i.  10 ;  which,  being  taken  jointly  together,  hold  these  three 
things :  — 

1.  That  ihu  first  day  of  the  week  was  honored  above  any  other 
day  lijr  Sabbath  services  in  the  primitive  church's  practice,  as  is 
evident,  Acts  xx.  7. 

2.  That  the  apostles  commanded  the  observation  of  this  day 
rather  than  any  other  for  Sabbath  services,  as  is  evident,  1  Cor. 
xvi.  1,  2. 

3.  That  this  day  is  holy,  and  sanctified  to  be  holy  to  the  Lord 
above  any  other  day,  and  therefore  it  halh  the  Lord's  name 
upon  it,  (a  usual  sign  of  things  holy  to  him,)  and  therefore  called 
the  Lord's  day,  as  is  evideul.  Rev.  i.  10  ;  but  these  things  need 
more  particular  ex  plication. 

Tiitu  85.  In  the  first  of  these  places,  (Acta  xx.  7,)  these 
particiilarB  are  manifest  r  — 

1.  Tliat  the  church  of  Troas  (called  disciples)  publicly  and 
generally  now  met  together,  so  that  it  was  no  private  church 
meting,  (as  some  eay,)  but  general  and  open,  according  as  ihoso 
times  would  give  leave. 

2.  That  this  meeting  was  u]]on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
ealled  ir  ig  iiia  tu-y  audliitaii  :  which  phrase,  although  Gomarus, 
Primrose,  Heylin,  and  many  others  go  about  lo  translate  thus, 


•is.,  upon  one  of  the  days  of  llie  week.  Y«t  this  U  sufficient  to 
dash  dial  dream,  (besides  what  else  might  be  said,)  viz.,  that 
this  phrase  is  espounded  in  other  Scriptures  to  be  rhe  first  day 

lot  the  week,  (Lukexxiv.  1  ;  John  xx.  I,)  hal  never  to  be  tbunil 

Kbroughout  all  the  Scriptures  expounded  of  one  day  in  the  week. 

wOoniarus  indeed  tells  us  of  if  ;"<•  ^osfivir,  (Luke  t.  17,  und  riii. 

ftSSt  &nd  xz.  1,)  which  is  translated  quodam  die,  or  a  certain  day; 

■tat  this  will  not  help  hini,  for  this  Li  not  ir  ifj  fiu  tuf  uaS€itiar, 

»■  it  is  in  this  place. 

W   8.  That  the  end  of  this  meeting  was  holy  duties,  viz.,  to  break 

Vbread.  or  Ut  receive  the  Lord's  supper,  as  the  phrase  is  expound- 

■  ad,  (Acts  ii.  43,)  which  was  therefore  accompanied  with  preacb- 
Klng  the  word  and  prayer,  holy  preparation  and  serious  meditu- 
fttion  about  those  great  mysteries.  Nor  can  this  breaking  of 
V'tread  be  interpreted  of  their  love  feasts,  or  common  suppers, 
K  ■■  Gomarua  saspects.     For  their  love  feasts  and  common  sup- 

■  pera  were  not  of  the  whole  church  together,  (as  this  was,)  but  in 
pgereriil  houses,  as  Mr.  Cartwright  proves  from  Acts  ii.  4ti,  And 
■.llthough  tlic  Corinthians  used  their  love  feasts  in  public,  yet  they 

Eg*dly  reproied  for  it  by  the  apo«lle,(l  Cor.  x\.  12,)  and 
reforc  he  would  not  allow  it  here. 
k  4.  It  is  not  said  that  Paul  called  them  together  because  he 
■was  to  depart  the  nest  day,  or  that  they  purposely  declined  the 
Eliord'a  supper  till  that  day  because  then  Paul  was  to  depart,  (as 
kUt.  Primrose  urgeth ;)  but  tlie  text  speaks  of  it  as  of  a  time  and 
uhf  usually  observed  of  them  before,  and  therefore  it  is  said,  (hat 
■*  when  they  came  together  to  break  bread ; "  and  Paul  thcreture 
Ktook  his  opportunity  of  preaching  to  them,  and  seems  to  slay 
K^rposuly,  und  wait  seven  days  among  Ihem,  that  he  miglit  com- 
■niinivatc  with  them,  and  jireach  unto  them  in  this  ordinary  time 
mtt  public  meeting;  and  therefore,  though  he  might  privately  iu- 
nHruct  und  preach  to  them  the  other  seven  days,  yet  his  preaching 
BbBw  is  mentioned  in  regard  of  some  special  solemnity  of  meeting 
Hbb  this  A»y. 

B  &.  The  first  day  was  honored  above  any  other  day  for  these 
^W^It  duties,  or  else  why  did  they  nut  meet  upon  the  last  day  of 
nhe  week,  the  Jewish  Sabballt,  for  these  ends  ?  For  if  tlie 
BChridlinn  churches  were  bound  to  oliserve  the  Jewish  Sabbath, 

■  'M^iy  did  they  not  meet  tlien,  and  honor  the  seventh  day  above  , 
l]0M  first  day?  considering  that  it  was  but  the  day  before,  and 
■iberefore  might  easily  have  done  it,  more  fitly,  loo,  hod  ihat 
neveitth  day  been  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

■  6.  Why  is  the  first  day  of  the  week  mentioned,  which  is  at- 
nUbuted  only  in  the  New  Testament  tu  the  day  of  Clirist's  resur* 


I 

I 

I 


206  THE   CHANGH;   OP    THE   SjIBBATU.  } 

reclion,  unless  Ibis  day  was  ihen  usually  honors iJ  Biid  sanctified 
for  holy  duties,  calk-d  here  breaking  of  hreaii,  by  a  synealocbe 
of  a  part  for  the  wbulc,  and  theretbre  comprehends  all  other 
Sabbath  dutiex  ?  For  there  is  no  more  reason  lo  esclade  prayer, 
preaching,  singing  of  psalmg,  etc,  because  these  are  not  men- 
tioned, than  to  exclude  drinking  of  wine  in  the  sacrament,  (as 
the  blind  Papists  do,)  because  this  neither  is  here  made  men- 
tion of.  Mr.  Prirorosc  indeed  tells  us  thai  it  may  be  the  first 
day  of  the  week  is  named  in  respect  of  Ihe  miracle  done  in  it 
upon  EutychuB.  But  the  text  is  plain ;  the  time  of  the  meeting 
is  mentioned,  and  the  end  of  it  to  break  breail,  and  the  miracle 
is  bm  brought  in  as  a  particular  event  which  happened  on  this 
day,  which  was  set  apart  fii'st  for  higher  ends. 

7.  Nor  is  it  said  in  the  text  that  the  church  of  Troas  met  every 
day  together  lo  receive  the  sacrament,  (as  Mr.  Primrose  sug- 
gests.) and  that  therefore  this  action  of  breaking  bread  was  done 
without  respect  lo  any  particular  or  special  day.  it  being  per- 
formed every  day.  For  I  do  not  tinit  that  the  primitive  church 
received  the  Lord's  supper  every  day ;  for  though  it  be  said 
(Acts  ii,  42)  that  the  church  continued  in  the  apostles'  fellow- 
ship and  breaking  of  bread  ;  yet  it  is  not  said  that  they  brake 
bread  every  day.  They  are  indeed  said  to  be  daily  in  the  tem- 
ple, (ver.  46,)  but  not  that  they  brake  bread  every  day  in  the 
temple,  or  IVom  houi«  lo  house,  or  if  they  should,  yet  the  break- 
ing of  bread  in  this  verse  is  meant  of  common,  not  sacred  bread, 
Hs  it  is  verse  42,  where  I  think  the  bread  was  no  more  common 
than  their  continuance  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship 
was  common ;  and  therefore  in  this  4fiih  verse  the  phrase  is  al' 
tered,  and  the  original  word  properly  signifies  ordinary  bread 
n  nourishment.  And  yet  suppose  they  did  receive  the 
t  every  day,  yet  here  the  breaking  of  bread  is  made 
)f  as  the  opui  diei,  or  the  special  business  of  the  day; 
and  the  day  is  mentioned  as  the  special  time  for  such  a  purpose ; 
and  hence  no  other  day  (if  tliey  brake  bread  in  it)  is  mentioned, 
imd  therefore  it  is  called  in  effect  "  the  day  of  meeting  to  break 
bread."  Nor  do  1  find  in  all  the  Scripture  a  day  distinctly  men- 
tioned for  holy  duties,  (as  this  first  day  of  the  week  is,)  wherein  a 
whole  people  or  church  meet  together  for  such  ends ;  but  that 
day  was  holy :  the  naming  of  the  particular  day  for  such  ends 
implies  the  holiness  of  il,  and  the  time  is  purposely  mentioned, 
that  others  in  aflertimes  might  purposely  and  specially  observe 
that  day. 

i.  Nor  is  it  said  that  the  disciples  met  together  the  night  after 
the  first  day  ;  but  it  is  expressly  said  to  be  upon  the  first  day  of 


THE   CHANGE   Or  THE   SABBATn.  207 

the  week :  and  suppose  (as  Mr.  Braboiirn  aailh)  tliat  their  meel- 
uig  was  not  together  in  the  morniug,  hut  only  in  the  evening 
time  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  supper,  )i  little  before  the  abutting 
.  ia  or  the  dny ;  yet  it  b  a  sufficJeni  ground  for  conscience  to  observe 
I  this  day  above  any  other  for  holy  services,  although  every  part 
r  of  (he  day  be  not  filled  up  with  public  and  church  duties ;  for 
I   aupposo  the  Levitcs  on  the  Jewish  Snbhath  should  do  no  holy 
public  duty  on  llieir  own  Sabbath  until  the  day  was  far  spent ; 
will  Mr.  Briihoiiro  argue  from  thence  that  the  Jewish   Sabbath 
VMB  not  wholly  holy  unto  Gtod  ?     But  again  :  suppose  ihe  latter 
pan  of  the  day  was  spent  in  breaking  qf  bread ;  yet  will  it  follow  j 

that  DO  other  part  of  the  day  was  spent  before,  either  in  any  H 

private  or  pubhe  holy  dutica?     Possibly  they  might  receive  th«  H 

Lord's  supper  in  the  evening  of  this  Sabbath,  (for  the  time  of  ^ 

this  action  IB  in  the  general  indifferent ;)  yet  might  they  not  spend 
the  rest  of  the  morning  in  public  duties,  as  we  know  some  do 
nnw  in  some  churches,  who  are  said  to  meet  together  to  break 
bread  the  latter  part  of  this  day,  and  yet  sanctify  the  Sabbath 
the  whole  day  beibrc  ?     Suppose  it  be  not  expre^ly  said  tliat  ^M 

they  did  shut  up  shop  windows  at  Trons,  and  forsake  the  plow  ^M 

knd  .the  wheel,  and  abstain  from  all  servile  work;    yet  if   he  ^M 

believes  that  no  more  was  done  this  day  hut  what  ia  expressly  H 

Kt  down,  Mr.  Urabourn  must  needs  see  a  pitiful  face  of  Christ  in 
the  Lord*8  supper,  and  people  coming  rushing  upon  it  without 
ly  serious  examination  or  preparation,  or  singing  of  psalms,  be- 
uae  no  such  duties  as  these  are  mentioned  to  be  upon  this  day. 
9.  Lastly,  Master  Primrose,  like  a  staggering  man,  knows  not 
whftt  to  fasten  on  in  answer  to  this  place,  and  therefore  lells  us, 
"la  suppose  it  was  a  Sabbath,  jet  that  it  might  be  taken  up 
mn  the  church's  liberty  and  custom,  rather  than  from   any 
ivine  institution  ;  but  besides  that  which  hath  been  said  to  dash 
Ua  dream,  (Thesis.  27, }  the  falseness  of  this  common  and  l>old 
Utenion  will  appear  more  fully  in  the  explication  of  the  second 
test,  (1    Cor.  xvi.   1,  2.)   which  now  follows,  whereui  it  will 
Kppcar  to  be  an  apostolical  (and  tlierefore  a  divine)  institution 
from  Jesus  ChrisL 

TKffif  36.  In  the  second  of  the  places  therefore  alleged, 
(1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2,)  these  things  are  considerable  to  prove  the 
nmt  day  in  the  week  to  he  the  Christum  Sabbath,  and  that  not 
ao  mud)  by  the  church's  practice,  as  by  the  apostle's  precept  j 
for,— 

1.  Although  it  be  true,  that  in  some  cases  collections  may  be 
made  any  day  for  the  poor  saints,  yet  why  doth  the  apostle  here 
limit  ibcm  to  (his  day  for  ihe  perlurmance  of  thb  duty  ?     They 


I 


t   CMANflE   OP  TlIB  SABBATH. 


that  translate  '«i't  /I'ur  oaSdiioii;  upon  one  day  of  the  week,  do 
iniseratily  mistake  the  pbrase,  which  in  Scripture  phrase  only 
sigDifics  ihe  first  day  of  it,  and  beat  their  foreheads  against  the 
main  scoi>e  of  the  aposilc,  viz.,  to  fix  a  certain  daj  for  such  a 
duly  as  required  bucIi  a  certain  time ;  for  tliey  might  (by  this 
translation)  collect  their  benevolences  one  day  in  four  or  tea 
years,  for  then  it  should  be  done  one  day  in  a  week. 

2.  The  apostle  dolh  not  only  limit  Ihem  lo  this  time,  but  also 
all  the  churches  of  Galalio,  (ver.  1,)  and  consequently  all 
other  churches,  if  that  be  true,  (2  Cor.  viii.  13,  14,)  wherein  the 
apostle  professcth  he  preswlh  not  one  church,  that  he  may  ease 
another  chnrch,  but  that  there  be  an  equality  ;  and  although  I 
Bee  no  ground,  from  this  text,  that  the  maintenance  of  the  min- 
istry should  be  raised  every  Sabbaih  day,  (for  Christ  would  not 
have  them  reckoned  among  the  poor,  being  biborers  worthy  of 
their  hire,)  and  although  this  collection  was  for  the  poor  saints 
of  other  churches,  yet  the  proportion  strongly  holds,  that  if  there 
be  ordinary  cause  of  such  collections  in  every  particular  church, 
these  collections  should  be  made  ihe  first  day  of  the  week,  much, 
more  carefully  and  religiously  for  the  poor  of  one's  own  church ; 
and  tliat  in  all  the  churches  of  Christ  Jesus  to  the  end  of  the 
worid. 

3.  The  apostle  dolh  not  limit  them  thus  with  wishes,  and 
counsels  only  to  do  it  if  ihey  thought  most  meet,  but  ilonep 
Miuia.  (ver,  1,)  OS  1  have  ordained,  or  instituted ;  and  therefore 
binds  their  consciences  to  it ;  and  if  Paul  ordained  it,  certainly 
he  had  it  from  Christ  Jesus,  who  first  commanded  him  »o  to 
appoint  it ;  who  profesaeth  that  what  he  had  received  of  the 
Lord,  that  only  he  cominiinded  unto  ihem  to  do,    (1  Cor.  xi.  13.) 

4.  If  this  day  had  not  been  more  holy  and  more  fit  for  this 
work  of  love  than  any  other  day,  he  durst  not  have  limited  them 
to  this  day,  nor  durst  he  have  honored  this  day  above  any  other 
in  the  week,  yea,  above  the  Jewish  seventh  day.  For  we  see 
the  very  apostle  tender  always  of  Christian  liberty,  and  not  to 
bind  where  Ihe  Lord  leaves  his  people  free;  for  thus  doing  he 
should  rather  make  snares  than  laws  for  churches,  (t  Cor.  vii. 
27,  3.i,)  and  go  expressly  against  his  own  doctrine,  (Gal.  v.  1,) 
who  bids  them  "  stand  fast  in  their  liberty,"  and  that  in  this  very 
point  of  the  observation  of  days.  (Gal.  iv.  10.)  But  what  fitness 
was  there  on  this  day  for  such  a  service  ?    Consider  therefore,  — 

5.  That  the  apostle  dolh  not  in  this  place  immediately  appoint 
and  institute  the  Sabbath,  but  supposeth  it  lo  be  so  already,  (as  Mr. 
Primrose  is  forced  to  acknowledge,)  and  we  know  duties  of 
mercy  and  charity,  as  well  as  of  necessity  and  piety,  are  Sabbatb 


r  '  THE    CHANGE    OF    TITK    SABBATH.  209 

duties ;  Tor  wliich  end  this  diij  (nhich  Beza  linds  in  an  nncient 
manuscript  lo  be  called  the  Lord's  diiy)  was  more  fit  for  those 
collections  tliaii  any  other  day ;  partly  because  ihcy  usually 
'  net  together  piihticly  on  this  day,  and  so  their  collectioDS  might 
1  greater  readiness  against  Paul's  coming ;  partly,  also, 
I  tbat  they  might  give  more  liberally,  at  least  freely,  it  being  sup- 
I  posed  that  upon  this  day  men's  hearts  are  more  weaned  from 
I  the  world,  and  are  warmed,  by  the  word  and  ordinances,  with 
re  lively  faith  and  hope  of  belter  things  to  come,  and  there- 
),  having  received  spiritual  things  from  the  Lord  more  plcnli- 
I  lully  on  this  day.  every  man  will  be  more  free  to  impart  of  bis 
I  tempontl  good  things  therein  for  refreshing  of  the  poor  saints, 
d  the  very  boweU  of  Christ  Jeans.  And  what  other  reason 
n  he  given  of  limiting  this  collection  to  this  day  I  confess  I 
ti  Dot  honestly  (though  I  could  wickedly)  imagine.  And  cer- 
I  tatnty  if  this  was  the  end,  and  withal  the  Jewish  day  was  the 
lOiristian  Sabbath,  the  apostle  would  never  have  thus  limited 
I  them  to  this  day,  nor  honored  and  exalted  this  first  day  before 
r  that  Jewish  seventh ;  which  if  it  had  been  the  Christian  Sab- 
I  tpth,  had  been  more  lit  for  such  a  work  as  this  than  the  first 
I  i*y  (if  A  working  day)  could  be. 

t '  6.  Suppose  therefore  that  ibis  apostolical  and  divine  institution 
tlv  lo  give  their  collections,  but  not  to  institute  the  day,  (as  Master 
■primrose  pleads ;)  suppose  also  that  ihey  were  not  every  Lord's 
Viay  or  first  <)ay,  but  sometimes  upon  the  first  day ;  suppose  also 
krdut  they  vrere  extraordinary,  and  for  the  poor  of  other  churches, 
ntbiue  for  that  time  only  of  their  need ;  suppose  also 
|,AaI  no  man  is  enjoined  to  bring  into  the  public  IrciLsury  of  the 
ihurch,  but  {i«li   laiiiia   iifc'ibi)   privately  to  lay   it   by   on   this 

■  jlliy  by  himself,  (as  Mr.  Brabouni  urgt'lh  against  this  text.)  yet 
■tiU  the  question  remains   uniuiswcrcd,  viz.;    Why  should  the 

OKtle  limit  them  to  this  day  ?     Either  for  exintordinary  or  pri- 
lu  collections,  and  such  special  act*  of  mercy,  unless  the  Lord 
'  liAd  honored  this  day  for  acts  of  mercy  (and  much  more  of 
piety)  above  any  other  ordinary  and  common  day  ?     What  then 
could   this  day  be   but  the  Christian  Sabbath  imposed  by  the 
iipustles,  and  magniQed  and  honored  by  all  the  churches  in  those 
L  wys?     I  know  there  are  some  other  replies  made  to  this  scrip- 
L^tom  by  Mr.  Brabourn ;  but  tliey  are  wind  eggs  (as  Plutivrch  calls 
Vthitt  philo»opher'i  notions,)  and  have  but  little  in  them ;  and  there- 
More  I  pnss  litem  by  as  I  do  many  other  things  in  that  book  as 
K^  worth  the  time  lo  name  ihcm. 

■  7.  This,  U<>tly.  I  add.  thi^  fir^t  day  was  thus  honored  either  by 
Ettrlne  or  human  institution ;  if  by  divine,  we  have  what  we 
I  18* 


THE    CHASGE   OF   THE 


plead  for  ;  if  b;  human  custom  nnd  traililion,  then  tbe  apostle 
assuredly  would  never  have  commendeil  the  ohiiervation  of  this 
daj,  who  elsewhere  condemns  Ilie  observation  of  daya,  though 
the  days  were  formerly  by  divine  insiitulion.  "TeobBer\e,"8aith 
he,  "days  and  limes;"  and  would  he  theti  have  commt^nded  the 
observation  of  these  diiya  above  any  other  which  are  only  by 
human,  but  never  by  divine  institution?  It  is  strange  thnl  tlie 
churches  of  Gabtia  are  forbidden  [he  observation  of  days,  (Gal. 
iv.  10,)  and  yet  commanded  (1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2)  a  more  sacred 
and  solemn  observation  of  the  lirst  day  of  the  week  rather  than 
any  other.  Surely,  this  could  not  he,  unless  we  conclude  a 
divine  institulion  liereof.  For  we  know  how  zealous  the  holy 
apostle  is  every  where  to  strike  at  human  customs,  and  there- 
fore could  not  lay  a  stumbling  block  (to  occasion  the  grievous 
fall  of  churches)  to  ullow  and  command  them  to  observe  a 
human  tradition,  and  to  honor  this  above  the  seventh  day  for 
such  holy  services  as  are  here  made  mention  of.  But  whether 
this  day  was  solemnly  sanctified  as  the  Sabbath  of  tlie  Lord  our 
God,  we  come  now  to  inquire. 

TAesii  37.  In  the  third  Lest,  (Rev.  i.  10,)  mention  is  mnde 
of  the  Lard's  day,  which  was  ever  accounted  the  Grst  day  of  ihe 
week.  It  seems,  therefore,  to  he  the  Lord's  day,  and  conse- 
quently the  Sabbath  of  tlie  Lord  our  God.  Two  things  are 
needful  here  to  be  considered  and  cleared :  — 

1.  That  tliis  day  being  culled  the  Lord's  day,  it  is  therefore 
set  apart  and  sanciiHed  by  the  Lord  Christ  as  holy. 

2.  That  this  day  thus  sanctified  is  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  therefore  that  first  day  is  our  holy  or  Sabliaib  day. 

77iftit  38.  The  Grst  diiBcutty  here  to  prove  and  clear  up  is, 
that  this  day,  which  is  here  called  the  Lord's  day,  is  a  day  ineli- 
tuied  and  sunctiRed  for  the  Lord's  honor  and  service  above  any 
other  day.  For,  as  Ihe  tiacrament  of  bread  and  wine  is  called 
the  Lord's  supper,  and  the  Lord's  table,  for  no  other  reason  but 
because  they  were  instituted  by  Christ,  and  sanctified  for  him 
and  his  honor,  bo  what  other  reason  can  be  given  by  any  Scrip- 
tare  light  why  this  is  called  the  Lord's  day,  but  because  it  was 
in  the  like  manner  instituted  and  sanctified  as  they  were?  Mr. 
Brabourn  here  shifts  away  from  the  light  of  this  text,  by  afKrm- 
ing  tfaEkt  it  might  be  called  the  lord's  day  in  respect  of  God  the 
Creator,  not  Christ  the  Redeemer,  and  therefore  may  be  meant 
of  the  Jewisli  Sabbath,  which  is  called  the  Lord's  holy  day.  (Is, 
Iviii.  3.)  But  why  might  he  not  as  well  say,  that  it  Li  called  the 
Lord's  supper  and  table,  in  respect  of  God  tlie  Creator,  consider- 
ing that  in  tbe  New  Testament,  since  Christ  ii  actually  exolted 


THE   CUJlSGF.    of   THE   SABBATH. 

I'te  be  Lord  of  all,  this  phrase  is  only  applied  to  the  Lord  Christ 

las  Redeemer?     Look,  Ujeruf'ore,  as  Ihe  Jewish  .Sabbaih,  being 

E«Klled  the  Lonl'i:  Subbatli.or  the  SubbnUi  of  Jeho\-nh,  is  hy  that 

Stie  and  note  certainly  known  to  be  a  day  aanetilied  by  Jeho- 

<^Kh,  aa  Creator,  so  this  day,  being  called  the  Lord's  day,  is  by 

■rtainly  known  b)  be  a  day  sanctified  by  our  Lord 

esus,  as  Redeemer.     Nor  do  I  find  any  one  distinct  thing  in  all 

e  Scripture  whii;h  balh  the  Lord's  superscription  or  name  upon 

I,  (aa  the  Lord's  temple,  the  Lord's  offerings,  the  Lord's  people, 

!  Lord's  priests,  etc.,)  but  it  is  sanctified  of  Grod  and  holy 

m.    Why  is  not  this  day,  then,  holy  to  the  Lord,  if  it  equally 

I  the  Lord's  name?     Master  Primrose,  indeed,  puts  us  off 

■  %itb  ftnolher  shift,  viz.,  that  this  day  being  called   so  by  the 

fiAureh's  customs,  John,  therefore,  calls  it  so  in  respect  of  that 

t  which  the  church  then  used,  without  divine  instilulJon, 

(ot  why  may  not  he  as  well  say  that  he  calls  it  the  Lord's  table 

[|d  respect  of  the  church's  custom  also  ?     The  designation  of  a 

Klifty,  and  of  the  fimt  time  in  the  day  tor  holy  public  s 

PtBdeed,  in  the  power  of  each  particular  church,  (i 

eture,  and  the  hours  of  Sabbath  meetings ;)  but  the  sanctifica- 
n  of  a  day,  if  it  be  divine  worshi|i,  to  observe  it  if  God  com- 
1  and  appoint  it,  then  surely  it  is  will  worship  for  any  hn- 
Bian  custom  to  institute  iL  Now,  the  Lord's  name  being  stamped 
npon  this  day,  and  so  set  apart  for  the  honor  of  Christ,  it  can 
not  be  that  so  it  should  be  called  in  respect  of  the  church's  cus- 
i  for  Rurely  then  they  should  Iiave  been  condemned  fur  will 
rarship  by  some  of  the  apostles ;  and  therefore  it  is  in  respect 
t  the  Lord's  ineliiution  hereof. 

7%«tiJ  39.     The  second  dilltculty  now  lies  in  clearing  up  this 

'rticular,  tiz..  that  this  day,  thus  sanctified,  was  the  first  day  of 

t  week,  which  ia  therefore  the  holy  day  of  the  Lord  our  God, 

1  consequently  the  Christian  Sabbath:  for  tliis  purpose  let 

M  ensuing  particulars  be  laid  together. 

I.  That  this  day  of  which  John  speaks  is  a  known  day,  and 

was  generally  known  in  those  days  by  this  glorious  name  ot'  the 

Lurd^  day,  and  therefore  the  apostle  gives  no  other  title  to  it 

but  ihu  Lord's  day,  as  a  known  day  in  those  times ;  for  the  scope 


't  down  the  day  and  t 


e  of  it,  I. 


gam 


the  n 


e  credit  to 


B  certainty  of  it,  when  every  one  sees  the  truth  c 
m!,  and  they  bear  of  the  particular  time ;  and  it  may  seem 
it  absurd  to  set  down  the  day  and  time  for  such  an  end,  and 


it  particularly  known. 


1  day,  what   day  can   it  b«   ntber  by 


I 


■  LordU 
^1  wrath  0 

■  encebe 


evidence  of  Scripture,  or  anj  antiquity,  but  the  first  daj  of  (W 
week  ?     For,  — 

1.  There  is  no  other  Asj  on  which  mention  is  made  of  anj 
other  work  or  action  of  Christ  which  might  oc«i.iion  a  holy  daj*. 
but  only  this  of  the  resurrection,  which  ig  esactly  noted  of  all 
the  evangeltsta  to  be  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  bj 
which  work  lie  is  expccssty  said  to  have  all  power  given  him  in' 
heaven  and  earth,  (Malt,  xxviii.  18.)  and  to  be  actually  Lord  of 
dead  and  living,  (Bom.  siv.  9  ;)  and  therefore  why  should  any 
other  Lord's  day  be  dreamed  of?  Why  should  Master  Braboum 
imagine  that  this  day  might  be  some  superatiiious  Easier  day, 
which  happens  once  a  year  ?  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  the  contrary, 
not  setting  down  the  month  or  day  of  the  year,  but  of  the  week 
wherein  Christ  arose,  and  therefore  It  must  be  meant  of  a  weekly 
holy  day  here  called  the  Lord's  day. 

2.  We  do  not  read  of  any  other  day  besides  this  first  day  of 
the  week,  which  was  observed  for  holy  Sabbath  duties,  and  hon- 
ored above  any  other  day  for  breaking  of  bread,  for  preaching 
the  word,  (which  were  acts  of  piety,)  nor  for  collections  for  the 
poor,  (the  most  eminent  act  of  mercy:)  why.  then,  should  any 
imagine  any  other  day  to  be  the  I^ord's  day,  but  that  first  day? 

8.  There  seems  to  be  much  in  that  which  Beza  observes  out 
of  an  ancient  Greek  manuscript  wherein  that  first  day  of  the 
week  (1  Cor.  xvi.  2)  is  expressly  called  the  Lord's  day ;  and  the 
Syriac  translation  saiih  that  their  meeting  together  to  receive 
the  sacrament  (1  Cor.  xi.  30)  was  upon  the  Lord's  day;  nor  is 
there  any  antiquity  hut  expounds  this  Lord's  day  ol"  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  as  learned  Givet  makes  good  against  Gomarus, 
professing  that  Quatquot  inlerprelei  kactenut  foruni,  h<rc  verha 
de  die  Teturrertionii  Domini  intellexerunt ;  toltu  quod  quidem 
leiam,  CI,  D.  Gomarvs  eontradixit, 

4.  Look,  as  Jehovah's  or  the  Lord's  holy  day  (Is.  Iviii.  13) 
was  the  seventh  day  in  the  week  then  in  use  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, so  why  should  not  this  Lord's  day  be  meant  of  some 
seventh  day,  (the  first  of  seven  in  the  week  which  the  Lord  ap- 
pointed, and  the  church  observed  imder  the  New  Teslameol,)  and 
therefore  called  {as  that  was)  the  Lord's  day  ? 

5.  There  can  be  no  other  clay  imagined  but  this  to  be  the 
Lord's  day.  Indeed,  Gomarus  affirms  that  it  is  called  the  Lord's 
day,  becaune  of  the  Lord  Jesus'  apparition  in  vision  to  John ; 
and  therefore  he  leils  thai,  in  Scripture  phrase,  the  day  of  the 
Lord  is  such  a  day  wherein  the  Lord  manifests  himself  chher  in 
wrath  or  in  favor,  as  here  to  John.     But  there  is  a  great  differ* 

between  those  phrases  i  the  Lord's  day,  and  the  day  of  the 


\ 


THE   CHAXGE    OF   THE   3 


For  such  an  inlerprelatiot 
1  uiicert&in  time,  is  directly  c 


I^i-i),  nhich  it  id  not  called  h 
the  Lord's  day,  as  if  it  was 
to  the  scope  of  John  in  setting  down  this  vision,  who.  t 
BMire  credit  to  it,  tells  us,  tirst,  of  tbe  person  Ibat  s 
John.  —  (Rev.i.9;)  secondly,  ibe  particular  place,  in  Fatmos; 
tfairdly,  ilie  particular  time,  the  Lord's  day. 
These  coiiiuderalions  do  Utterly  subvert  Mr.  Brabonm's  dis- 
course, to  prove  the  Jewish  Sabbath  to  be  the  Lord's  day,  which 
«e  are  still  to  obi^crve,  and  may  be  sufficient  to  answer  the  scru- 
ples of  modes!  and  humble  minds ;  for,  if  we  ask  tbe  time  of  it, 
tt  is  oa  (be  first  day  of  ihe  wet^k.  Would  we  know  whether  thia 
time  was  spent  in  boly  duties  and  Sabbath  services  ?  This  also 
bath  been  proved.  Would  we  know  whether  it  was  sanctiticd 
Ibr  that  end?  Yes.  verily,  because  it  is  culled  tbe  Lord's  diiy, 
and  consequently  all  servile  work  wrk  and  is  lo  be  laid  aside  in 
it.  Would  wc  know  wiietber  it  is  the  Christian  Sabbath  day  ? 
Verily,  if  it  be  the  day  of  the  Lord  our  God,  (ibe  Lord's  day,) 
why  is  it  not  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  our  God?  If  it  be  ex- 
alted and  honored  by  the  apostles  of  Christ  above  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  for  Sabbath  duties,  why  should  we  not  believe  but  that  it 
was  our  Sabbath  day?     And  although  the  words  Sabbath  day,  or 

>Hvt»th  dag,  be  not  espressly  meniioned,  yet  if  they  be  for  sob- 
Mwice  in  ibis  day,  and  by  just  consequence  deduced  from  Scrip- 
Mre,  it  is  all  one  as  if  the  Lord  had  expressly  called  them  so. 
TTittit  41*.  Hence  therefore  it  follows,  that  although  this  par- 
ticular scvenlli  day,  which  is  the  first  ofsei'en,  be  not  particularly 
pade  mention  of  in  the  fourth  commandment,  yet  the  last  of  seven 
being  abrogated,  and  this  being  instituted  in  its  room,  it  ie  there- 
fore lo  be  perpetuated  and  observed 'in  its  room.  For  though  it 
be  true  (as  Mr.  Urabourn  urgetli)  that  new  Jnslilulions  can  not 
be  founded,  no,  not  by  analogy  of  proporlioo,  merely  upon  old 
institutions,  as,  because  children  were  circumcised,  it  will  not 
follow  that  they  are  therefore  to  be  baptized,  and  so  because  the 

PJewB  kept  that  seventh  day,  thai  we  may  therefore  keep  ihe  first 
ifcy;  yet  this  is  certain,  that  when  new  things  are  insliluled  not 
kj  human  analogy,  but  by  divine  appointment,  the  application  of 
these  may  stand  by  virtue  of  old  precepts  and  general  rules,  from 
whence  the  application  even  of  old  insiiiutions  formerly  arose. 
For  we  know  that  the  ruiliu  iitttiliUut  in  the  New  Testament,  in 
ministry  and  sacrumenu,  stands  at  this  day  by  virtue  of  tbe  sec- 
ond commandment,  as  well  as  the  instituted  worship  under  tbo 
Old.  And  though  baptism  stands  not  by  virtue  of  the  institution 
of  drcumcisiuo,  yet  it  being,  de  novo,  instituted  by  Christ,  as  tbe 
•Mkl  of  initiation  into  Ciuisi's  mystical  body,  (1  Cor.  xiL  IS,)  it 


THE   CHASGE 


now  stande  by  virtue  of  tliat  general  rule  by  whicb  circnmcision 
ilaelf  was  adminislercil,  viz.,  ibat  Ibe  Beal  of  inilialion  inlo  Clirisl's 
body  be  applied  to  nil  the  visible  members  of  that  body ;  and 
faeoce  children  are  to  be  now  baptized,  as  once  they  were  cireum- 
cised,  being  members  of  Christ's  body.  So  the  first  daj  of  the 
week  being  instituted  to  be  the  Lord's  day,  or  Lord's  Sabbath, 
bcnce  it  follows,  that,  if  the  first  Ecvpnib,  which  is  now  abrogaied, 
was  ODce  observed  because  it  was  the  Lord's  Sabbath,  or  ibe 
Sabbath  day  which  God  appointed.  —  by  the  very  same  rule,  and 
on  the  very  same  ground,  wc  also  are  bound  to  keep  this  first  duy, 
being  also  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  our  God,  which  he  hath  now 
appointed  anew  under  the  New  Testament. 

Thetit  41.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  primitive  cbarches,  in 
lh£  eastern  parts,  did  for  some  hundred  of  years  observe  both 
Sabbaths,  both  Jewish  and  Christian.  But  they  did  this  without 
warrant  from  God,  (who  allows  but  one  Sabbath  in  a  weeic,)  and 
also  against  the  rule  of  the  apostles  ;  for  I  think  that  Paul,  fore- 
seeing this  observation  of  days  and  Jewish  Sabbaths  to  be  stirring 
and  ready  to  creep  inla  the  church,  that  he  did  tberef(»«  condemn 
the  same  in  bis  Epislles  to  the  Galatinns  and  Colossiaus  ;  and  that 
therefore  Christian  emperors  and  councils,  in  after  tiroes,  did  well 
and  wisely  both  lo  condemn  the  observations  of  the  one  and 
withal  honor  tlie  other. 

Thexit  42.  Although  the  work  of  redemption  be  applied  unto 
few  in  respect  of  the  special  benefits  of  it,  yet  Christ,  by  bis 
death,  Is  made  Heir  and  Lord  of  all  things,  being  now  set  down  al 
the  right  hand  of  God,  and  there  is  mime  benefit  which  befalls  all 
the  world  by  Christ's  redemption ;  and  the  government  of  all 
things  is  not  now  in  the  hand  of  God  as  Creator,  but  in  the  hand 
of  a  Mediator,  (Heb.  i.  1,2;  ii.  8,9;  John  v.  22;  Col.  i.  16,  17; 
1  Tim.  iv.  10  ;  John  iii.  35;)  and  hence  it  is  no  wonder  if  all  men, 
aa  well  as  a  few  elected,  selected,  and  called,  be  commanded  to 
sanctity  the  Lord's  day,  as  once  they  were  the  Jewish  seventh 
day ;  the  work  of  Christ  being  in  some  respect  of  as  great  extent, 
through  all  the  work  of  creation,  as  the  work  of  .the  Father. 
And  therefore  it  is  a  great  feebleness  in  Mr.  Brabuuru  to  go 
about  lo  vilify  the  work  of  redemption,  and  extol  that  of  creation 
above  it ;  and  that  therefore  the  Sabbath  ought  still  to  be  kept  ia 
reference  to  the  work  of  creation,  which  concerns  all  men,  rather 
than  in  respect  of  redemption,  which  he  imagines  concerneth 
only  some  few. 

7»«m  43.  The  Lord  Christ  rested  from  the  work  of  re- 
dempiioo  by  price,  upon  the  day  of  bis  resurrection;  but  he  is 
not  yet  at  rest  from  the  work  of  redemption  by  power,  uulil  the 


THE   CHANGE   OF  THE  SABBATH. 


215 


day  of  oar  resurrection  and  glory  be  perfected.  But  it  doth  not 
hence  follow  (as  Mr.  Primrose  imagines)  that  there  is  no  Lord's 
day  instituted  in  respect  of  Christ's  resurrection,  because  he  hath 
not,  nor  did  not  then  rest  from  redemption  by  power ;  for  look, 
as  the  Father,  having  rested  from  the  works  of  creation,  might 
therefore  appoint  a  day  of  rest,  although  he  did  not,  nor  doth  not 
yet  rest  from  providence,  (John  v.  17,)  so  the  Lord  Christ 
having  finished  the  great  work  of  redemption,  he  might  justly 
appoint  a  day  of  rest,  although  his  redeeming  work  by  power 
wasyet  behind. 

Tnests  44.  The  heavy  and  visible  judgments  of  God  revealed 
from  heaven  against  profaneness  of  this  our  Lord's  day  Sabbath 
will  one  day  be  a  convincing  argument  of  holiness  of  this  day, 
when  the  Lord  himself  shall  have  the  immediate  handling  and 
pressing  of  it  Meanwhile  I  confess  my  weakness  to  convince  an 
adversary  by  it ;  nor  will  I  contend  with  any  other  arguments  from 
antiquity  for  the  observation  of  this  day ;  but  these  may  suffioOy 
which  are  alleged  from  the  holy  word. 


BEGINNING  OF  THE   SABBATH. 


Tlnri*  1.  It  is  a  holj  labor  (saith  one)  to  inquire  after  the 
begioning  of  holy  rest.  The  Sabbath  can  not  be  ao  sweetly  mu)i>- 
tiSdd  unless  we  know  the  time  when  to  begin  and  end  it;  die  dif- 
ferent Apprehensions  of  such  aa  have  iaijuired  after  ihe  truth  in 
this  particular  have  made  way  fur  the  more  elenr  and  distinct 
knowledge  of  it,  it  being  the  privilege  of  trulli  to  be  more  puri- 
fied, and  ^hine  the  brighter,  by  passing  tlirough  tlie  heats  and 
fires  of  men's  contentions  and  disputatiune. 

77iesit  2.  There  being  tlierefore  five  Eeveral  opinions  con- 
cerning this  particular,  it  may  not  be  unuseful  to  bring  them  all 
to  the  balance  and  touchstone,  that  so  by  snufiixig  the  candle,  and 
rejecting  that  which  ia  false,  the  light  of  truth  may  shine  the 
brighter  at  lost. 

77ieiis  3.  Some  there  be  wlio  make  the  time  mutable  and 
TarioUB,  afflrmitig  that  God  hath  not  fixed  any  set  time,  or  that 
he  stands  upon  or  would  hare  hi«  people  troubled  with  eilch  nic&> 
ties  1  so  ioDg  OS  the  day  be  observed,  (say  they,)  it  is  no  matter 
when  it  be  begun  :  nor  do  they  make  this  variation  to  be  accord- 
ing to  that  which  God  aUowa,  (suppose  from  suu  to  sun,  sooner 
or  later,  as  the  lime  of  the  year  is,)  but  according  to  the  civil  cus- 
toms of  several  nations,  as  they  variously  begin  or  end  their  days 
among  whom  Ihey  live ;  as  suppose  they  live  among  Romans, 
they  think  they  may  begin  it  at  midnight ;  if  with  Babylonians, 
at  Bunrising;  if  among  Grecians,  at  suDset;  if  among  Umbriaiw 
and  Arabians,  at  midday. 

Thftia  4.  If  the  Scripture  hud  left  us  such  a  liberty  as  this, 
Tiz.,  to  measure  the  beginning  of  the  day  according  to  human 
custom,  a  scrupulous  conscience  (I  think)  might  have  a  moat  and 
ready  quieting  answer  here  ;  but  it  will  be  found  too  true,  that 
though  civil  and  common  lime  may  admit  of  such  variations  as 
may  best  suit  tvith  their  manner  and  occasions,  yet  sacred  and 
^_-  216 


I 


I 


TBU   BECINNi: 


217 


holy  ti 


not  depcnilent  upon  human  customs,  but  upon  divine 
for  wliii:h  purpose  God  hath  macle  the  lights  of  heav-   ). 
en  to  be  for  seasons,  (Gen.  i.   14.)  lo  be  guides  and  helps  to 
be^n  and  end  ibe  seasons  and  days  whiuh  he  shall  appoint. 

7Tie$i*  d.  It  is  true  that  il  suits  not  with  God's  wisdom  (o 
determine  all  particular  circumstances  pf  things  (which  are  &1- 
mosi  innumerable  and  inHnite)  by  the  express  letter  of  the  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  therefore  he  hath  lefl  us  a  fen  general  rules  to  direct 
us  therein ;  yet  for  the  Lord  lo  leave  the  determination  of  some 
circumstances  to  human  liberty  would  he  very  perilous.  The 
ttimple  was  but  a  circumstance  of  place,  and  Eing  Uiziah,  in  offer- 
ing incense,  varied  only  in  a  circumstance  of  person ;  yel  we 
know  that  the  ten  tribes  were  carried  away  captive  for  not  sacri- 
ficing at  the  temple,  and  Uxziah  smitten  with  leprosy  till  big 
death  ;'  BO  the  Lord  havinff  determined  the  seventh  day  lo  be  his, 
what  now  should  hinder  but  that  he  should  determine  the  hegin- 
ning;  also  thoreof  ? 

Tlieii*  6.  If  God  hath  been  accurately  careful  to  fix  the  be- 
ginning of  other  feasts  and  holy  days,  far  inferior  unto  this,  a> 
appeareih,  Lev.  xxML  23,  Ex.  sii.  6,  why  should  we  think  thnt 
the  Lord  is  lens  careful  about  the  beginning  of  his  Sabbath  ? 

Tiieti$  7.  If  the  Lord  hath  not  left  it  to  human  wisdom  to 
act  down  the  bounds  and  limits  of  holy  places,  (as  appears  in 
the  temple,  tabernacle,  and  all  their  appurtenances,)  why  should 
think  that  he  hath  lefl  it  to  man's  wisdom  to  limit  and  deler- 

TTketit  8.  If  the  Lord  will  have  a  special  time  of  worship 
E  within  the  circle  of  seven  dayi4,and  not  appoint  the  lime  for 
beginning  and  end  of  it,  might  he  not  lose  much  of  the  beautf 
of  the  holiness  of  the  day,  evi^y  thing  being  beautiful  in  iu 
uuu  ?  Uay  not  man  begin  the  day  at  such  a  season  as  may  not 
beautiful  ? 

TTiait  ^.  The  deputation  of  time  for  holy  uses  upon  occasion 
nlkiwed  to  man ;  yet  ^anciiUcaiion  of  time,  and  to  set  the 
iiids  and  limits  of  it,  b  left  lo  no  man  ;  sonctificalion  not  only 
tive,  but  relative,  (as  here  in  llie  Sabhalh.)  l>eiog  as  proper 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  t^-eation  to  the  Father,  and  redempliou  to 
e  Son. 

ThtmlO.  Application  of  holy  time  to  the  [icrfurmance  of 
duties  on  the  Suhbtith  (as  to  lix  what  liours  lo  meet  in  upon 
.  day)  is  loft  to  human  prudence  from  general  rules  of 
oontcniency,  order,  comeliness  ;  but  consecration  of  constant  aid 
Hxcd  time  is  the  lord's  propriety,  not  only  of  the  middle,  but  «f 
th«  beginning  and  end  thereof. 


^UBoe 
Kbab 
■  of  th 


vol-  lit. 


19 


I 


T^etit  11.  TKe  Scriptures  have  led  the  de  terra  i  nut  ion  of  tlittl 
beginning  of  the  S&bbalh  no  more  lo  civil  nations,  am)  their  cuftr 
toms,  than  to  particular  churches,  and  each  particular  person  ; 
for  they  may  all  equally  plead  against  the  Lord's  strktness  to 
any  exact  beginning  of  time ;  but  if  such  a  loose  liberty  were 
granted,  a  world  of  confusion,  scandal,  and  divieion  would  soon 
appear  ;  for  some  persons  might  llieu  begin  it  at  midnight,  soma 
at  midday  ;  some  might  measure  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath 
according  lo  their  sleeping  sooner  or  later  on  the  Sabbath  day 
morning ;  some  migbl  be  plowing,  or  dancing  and  drinking, 
when  others  are  praying  and  hearing  of  the  word ;  and  who  could 
restrain  them  herein  ?  for  they  might  plead  [he  Sabbalh  is  not  yet  i 
begun  lo  them.  1 

7%e»is  12.  If,  therefore,  God  haih  Bnnctiticd  a  set  time,  he 
halli  set  and  sanctified  the  hounds  and  limits  of  that  time  ;  and 
to  begin  the  time  when  we  list,  it  may  sometimes  arise  from  weak- 
ness, but  usually  it  is  a  fruit  of  looseness  of  heart,  which  se- 
cretly loves  to  live  as  it  lists,  which  would  not  conform  to  God's 
rule,  and  therefore  will  crook  and  bend  the  rule  to  its  humcnv  . 
which  will  not  come  np  to  God's  lime,  and  therefore  make  God  ■ 
lo  come  down  to  theirs. 

TSmi*  13.  Others  there  be  who  give  God  the  honw  of  de- 
termining the  beginning  and  end  of  the  day,  but  they  cut  him 
short  of  one  half  of  it,  in  that  they  make  the  artificial  day,  or  the 
daylight,  from  sunrising  to  sunsetting,  to  be  the  day  of  his  Sab- 
bath. Thus  some  alGrra  downright.  Others  more  modestly  saj 
that  conscience  ought  not  to  be  scrupulous,  nor  trouble  itself,  if 
they  conscientiously  give  God  the  honor  of  the  Snbbaih  daylight, 
having  some  general  preparations  for  it  the  night  before,  and 
good  atfecliona  the  night  after. 

7%eii»  14.     But  if  the  daylight  be  the  measure  of  the  Sab*  I 
bath,  those  that  live  in  some  part  of  the  Uussia  and  East  land  ~l 
must  have  once  a  year  a  very  long  Sabbath,  for  then 
times  of  the  year  wherein  they  have  daylight  a  month  together. 

TTietit  15,  If  Glod  give  us  six  natural  days  lo  labor  in,  is  it 
not  fit  that  the  seventli  day  should  bear  an  equal  proportion  with 
every  working  day  ?  And  thcretbre  it  is  not  an  artiiicial,  but  a 
natural  day,  conaisling  of  twenry-four  hours,  which  we  must  i 
conscience  allow  unto  God  lo  be  the  Sabbalh  day. 

TTtetit  16.  It  is  true  that  tlie  night  is  given  to  man  to  rei 
in,  it  being  most  fit  for  that  end  ;  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  bB  > 
the  weekly  nights  be  spent  in  sleep,  for  we  then  do  labor,  and 
God's  providence  puts  men  generally  upon  it  lo  tabor  in  their 
callings  early  and  lute  those  nights,  and  Uie  Lord  allows  iti  nay, 


11 
1 

1 

r 
1 

il 

it 

h 

:| 

am 


r 


it  would  be  fiin  nni]  iillRiiess  ia  many  not  lo  do  it ;  besides  that 
rieep  niitl'  re^t  wliii-li  ix  lo  be  taken  in  fhe  niglit,  it  is  in  ordiae, 
or  in  refereni-e  lo  day  labor,  and  ia  as  a  whet  thereunto ;  and  ia 
thia  revpeot  the  whole  weekly  night,  as  well  as  the  day.  is  fur 
labor;  as  the  sleep  we  take  on  Habbaih  night  b  in  orrfine,  or 
with  respect  to  spirilunl  rest,  and  so  that  whole  natural  day  is  a 
^y  of  gpirilual  rest.  It  ie  therefore  a  vain  thing  for  any  to 
make  the  nights  of  the  six  working  days  to  be  no  part  of  the 
flix  working  days,  because  (they  gay)  they  are  given  lo  man  to 
rest  and  fleep  in :  for  upon  the  same  ground  they  may  make 
the  artificial  days  no  days  of  labor  neither,  because  there  must 
be  ordinarily  some  lime  taken  out  of  them  to  eat,  drink,  and  re- 
fresh our  weak  bodies  in. 

7^1*  17.  If  Nehcmiah  shut  the  gates  of  the  city  when  it 
began  to  bo  dark,  lest  that  nighttime  should  be  profaned  by 
bearuig  burdens  in  it,  then  certainly  the  time  of  night  was  sane- 
tified  ot'  God  as  well  as  the  day ;  lo  say  that  this  act  was  but  a 
jnst  preparation  for  the  Sabbath  is  said  witliout  proof,  for  if  God 
allows  men  ais  days  and  nights  to  labor  in,  wliat  equity  can  there 
be  in  forhidiing  all  servile  work  a  whole  night  together  which 
God  hath  allowed  man  for  labor  ?  And  although  we  ought  lo 
■uke  preparation  for  the  Sabbath,  yet  the  time  and  measure  of  it 
ii  left  to  each  man's  Christian  liberty  ;  but  for  a  civil  ma^strate 
to  impose  twelve  hours'  preparation  for  the  Subbath  is  surely 
bdth  against  Christian  liberty,  and  God's  allowance  al«o.  Again : 
Hebeiniah  did-  this,  lest  the  men  of  Tyre  should  occasion  the 
/ewi  to  break  the  Sabbath  day  by  bringing  in  wares  upon  that 
■jgbt;  M  as,  if  that  night  therefore  had  not  been  part  of  the 
8<Uibath,  they  could  not  thereby  provoke  the  Jews  to  profane 
the  Sabbtitb  day,  by  which  Nehemiah  tells  them  they  had  pro- 
voked ihe  wrain  of  God. 

7A««t'«  18.  A  whole  natural  day  is  called  a  day,  though  it 
take  in  the  night  also,  because  Ihe  daylight  is  the  chieft-st  and 
bci^t  ]iart  of  tlie  day,  and  we  know  that  lite  denomination  of 
tilings  is  usually  according  to  the  better  part ;  but  for  Mr.  Bra^ 
bourn  10  affirm  ibat  the  word  dag,  in  Scripture,  is  never  taken 
but  for  the  artificial  day,  or  time  of  light,  is  utterly  false,  as  might 
appear  from  sundry  instances  ;  it  may  sufBce  to  see  a  cluster  of 
•even  days  which  comprehended  their  nights  also.  (Ex.  lii.  15, 
18,  10,  41,  42.) 

Thttit  19.  To  affirm  that  the  Sabbath  day  only  comprehends 
(lis  daylight,  because  ibe  first  day  in  Gen.  i.  began  with  morning 
light,  it  tiot  only  a  bad  consequence,  (Buppo:iing  the  ground  of  it 
Co  be  true,)  but  the  ground  and  foundation  of  it  is  as  cerlaiol/ 


t 


I 


I 


no  thk  Br.Gi.N.viNG  of  the  SAniiATEt. 

false  B8  lo  say  that  ilnrkncis  id  light :  for  it  is  eviJent  tfiiU  iLb^ 
flrsl  daj  in  Genesis  bcgnn  wiih  ihal  ilnrkne^s  wliicb  God  eaOvI 
night,  (P&  ir.  5.)  and  lo  AlGrm  ikni  tiie  lirsi  day  in  Gen.  if.M 
begins  with  morning  light  is  as  grossly  fal^e  as  it  is  apparently  t 
true  that  within  sii  days  tbe  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth.  (Ex.  I 
XX.  II ;)  for  before  the  creating  of  that  light  which  God  calls  1 
day,  the  heavens,  and  with  ihem  the  angels,  and  the  earth,  0^9 
first  matl«r  called  liie  deep,  which  was  overspread  with  darknem;  1 
were  erealet).     Either  therefore  the  l«rd  did  not  create  iIib  J 
world  in  six  days,  or  it  is  untrue  that  the  first  day  in  Generis 
began  with  morning  light;  and  I  wonder  upon  what  grounds  this 
notion  should  enter  into  any  loaii's  head;  for  though  God  calls 
the  light  day  and  the  darkness  night,  (as  we  shall  do  when  we 
speak  of  the  artificial  day,)  yet  withal  he  called  the  evening  of 
the  rooming  the  tirsi  day  ;  and  what  was  this  evening  and  mom- 
ingp     Surely  it  is  all  that  space  of  time  wherein  the  Lord  did 
his  first  day's  work  :  now,  it  is  evident  that  part  d'  the  first  day'a 
work  was  before  God  created  the  light;  and  what  ihoogh  evening    , 
be  oftentimes  taken  for  tbe  latter  piart  of  the  daylight?     y< 
is  too  well  known  to  those  who  have  waded  the  deep  in  this  < 
troversy,  that  it  is  oftcntiincB  taken  not  only  for  tbe  bound  b^  * 
tween  light  and  darkness,  i.  e^  the  end  of  tight  and  heginoing   ' 
of  darkness,  (Josh.  x.  26,  27  ;  Ps.  civ.  23,)  but  also  for  the  whola 
time  of  darkness,  as  it  is  here  in  this  first  of  Genesis,  and  oa  we 
shall  prove  in  due  jilaee ;  and  therefore  to  affirm  that  (he  He- 
brew word  used  by  Moses  for  evening,  not  to  be  nalurally  ap*    , 
pliable  to  the  night,  because  it  signifies  a  mixture  of  light  axA  I 
darkness  in  the  notion  of  it,  is  a  gross  mistake ;  for  the  Ilebrev] 
word  Giurtb  doth  not  signify  a  mixture  of  light  and  darknea^  J 
but  only  a  mixture,  because  it  is  the  beginning  of  darkness, 
wherein  all  things  seem  10  be  mixed  and  compounded  together,   ■ 
and  can  not  be  clearly  and  distinctly  discerned  in  their  kinds  and 
colors,  if  Buxtorfius  may  be  believed,  as  is  also  evident,  (Is. 
xxix.  15;)  and  lo  affirm  thut  the  day  is  before  tbe  night,  even  in 
thia  first  of  Genesis,  because  Moses  sometimes  sets  the  day  be- 
fore the  night,  it  may  seem  as  feeble  an  argument  as  to  say  that 
the  evening  is  before  the  morning,  because  Muses   here  sets  the 
evening  before  the  morning;  but  this  will  not  seem  rational  to 
ihem  who  make  the  evening  to  comprehend  the  latter  part  of 
the  daylight,  and  the  morning  the  first  part  of  it.     Lastly,  to 
make  the  light  to  begin  the  day,  because  the  lime  of  light  is  a   , 
principle  of  compulation,  (tbe  space  of  darkness  beforft  ■ 
that  light  was  created  being  unknown,)  is  all  one  as  if  one  sbould'l 
~        that  the  lime  of  daylight  was  not  tlie  beginning  o 


9 


TIIi:   BEGraN» 


IBATII. 


d>y,  because  llie  gpace  of  that  is  also  as  miicli  unknowu.  For 
if  we  know  tliat  darkness  was  before  light,  thoagli  we  may  not 
know  how  long  it  coDtinueil,  vet  we  do  know  certainly  that  the 
Aral  dny  began  with  darknen^s,  and  that  this  darkness  and  light 
made  op  the  space  of  twenty-four  hours,  or  of  a  natural  day, 
(as  in  all  olbor  days'  works  of  creation.)  and  which  is  sufilcieni 
to  break  down  thia  principle,  viz.,  that  the  first  day  in  Genesis 
began  with  morning  li^hL 

T%ent  20.     Some  say  the  Sabbath  is  significative  of  heaven, 

and  therefore  it  only  comprehends  the  daylight,  which  ia  St  to 

signify  the  lightsome  day  of  heaven,  which  darkness  is  not ;  but 

why  may  not  nighttime  signify  heaven  as  well  as  dayUme  ?  for 

'  besven  is  a  place  of  rest,  and  the  night  is  the  fittest  time  for 

'"rest,  aAer  our  weary  labors  in  the  day.     Who  teacheth  men  thus 

,   to  allegorize?     How  easy  a  thing  is  it  thus  to  abuse  all  the 

Scripture !     And  yet  sup|>ose  it  should  signify  heaven,  yet  why 

way  not  the  Sablnilli  continue  the  space  of  a  natural  as  well  aa 

of  an  artificial  day,  considering  that  the  natural  day  of  the  world, 

or  of  bolh-lieinispherea,  consists  only  of  light,  which  these  men 

ia  BigniHcative  of  heaven  ? 

'Vient  21.     We  may  and  do  sanctify  time  by  sleeping  on  the 

I    Saltbnlh  night,  as  well  as  by  showing  works  of  mercy  and  doing 

[  works  of  neee-ssity  upon  die  Suhbath  day,  or  as  we  may  do  by 

I  ming  and  drinking ;  for  to  lake  moderate  sleep  is  a  work  not 

I  only  of  necesHly,  but  also  of  mercy  to  ourselves  ;  and  therefore  to 

[  abolish  the  SabtMtli  night  from  being  any  {>art  of  the  Sabbath 

'ccause  we  can  not  (aa  some  think)  sanctity  time  by  sleeping,  no 

lore  than  by  working,  is  very  unsound. 

Tktsit  22.     Moses  indeed  tells  the  people,  (Ex.  xvi.  S3,)  that 

„  lo-morrow  is  the  Lord's  Sabbath ;  but  he  doth  not  say  that  the 

I  daytime  only  was  the  only  time  of  the  Sabhath,  or  that  the  day* 

l'  light  begins  and  ends  the  Sabbath;  but  he  mentions  that  lime, 

I  because  on  that  daylight  of  the  seventh  day  they  were  apt  and 

i  inclined  to  go  out  (as  in  other  days)  to  gather  manna,  and  so  to 

'  break  the  Sabbath  ;  and  it  is  as  it  we  should  say  to  one  who 

I  was  ready  to  ride  out  on  the  Sabbath  morning  about  worldly 

I  oceasious,  "  Do  not  stir  out,  for  to-morrow  ia  the  Sabbath  i "  tliat 

i>  we  may  hereby  prevent  the  breach  of  the  Sabbath  in  that 

Y  thing,  especially  at   that   Ume  wherein  one   ia   most   inclined 

[  to  to  do. 

Thftit  23.  To  imagine  that  the  Sabbath  most  be  contained 
L  within  the  bounds  of  daylight,  becauee  Christ  Jesos  arose  at  break 
[  of  d^y,  (Matt,  sxviii.  1.)  is  of  no  more  force  than  as  if  one  •heul4 
19" 


i 


222  THE    OCC.tN'NING   OF  THE   SABBATH. 

conclude  the  contRinment  of  it  within  llic  bounds  of  some  dark< 
ness  Hnd  ttrilight ;  for  it  ia  evident  thai  he  arose  about  that  time. 

TTtegig  24.  There  is  no  mora  necessity  of  sanctifying  a  day 
and  a  half,  by  beginning  the  day  at  evening,  than  by  beginning 
it  at  morning  lighi,  (for  thus  some  argue ;)  for  what  ia  said  of  iha 
evening  of  both  hemisphere!!,  that  the  second  evening  would  be- 
gin twelve  hours  after  the  first,  if  the  Sabbath  was  sanctified  to 
begin  at  the  evening  of  both  hemi^pherea,  and  so  there  would  be 
B  day  and  a  half  sanctified ;  the  like,  I  say.  may  be  averred  of 
the  morning,  supposing  tliat  both  hemispheres  ehould  begin  their 
Sabbath  at  the  morning  of  both  hemisplieres ;  but  we  know  that 
the  Sabbath  day  is  sanctified  to  begin  and  end  according  to  the 
setting  and  rising  aun  in  each  hemisphere  and  longitude  of  places 
respectively. 

y^ettt  25.  If  evening,  morning,  light,  and  night  made  up 
every  day  the  creation,  why  shall  we  think  but  that  ibe  Sabbath 
day  also  consisted  of  [he  same  parts  ?  and  if  the  whole  world  waa 
made  in  eix  days,  and  these  days  be  only  such  as  consist  of  day- 
light, when  tlien  was  (he  third  heaven  and  chaos  made  which  did 
exist  before  light  ?  Those  fathers  and  schoolmen  who  set  Euoh 
narrow  bounds  to  tbe  day  had  need  consider  of  it,  leat  their  an- 
_  swer  be  like  lua,  who  hearing  a  simple  preacher  desiring  lbs 
(XHitinuance  of  the  life  of  tlie  king  so  long  us  sun  and  moon  en- 
dured, and  being  asked,  if  that  should  he  so,  when  should  his  bob 
reign,  he  replied,  it  may  be  the  preacher  thought  that  he  might 
rule  by  candlelight. 

Tht$it  2ti.  Suppose  therefore  that  there  was  no  public  wor- 
ship in  the  temple  (as  one  objecteih)  among  the  .lews  in  ihs 
nighttime,  yet  it  will  not  follow  from  hence  that  the  Sabhath  was 
to  continue  no  longer  than  daylight  ;^  for  the  Sabliath  might  be 
Mociilied  privately  in  llie  night,  as  well  as  more  publicly  in  the 
day ;  and  thus  the  Jews  were  wont  to  sanctify  their  Sabbath, 
and  so  should  we.   (Is.  xkk.  29.    Ps.  Ixiii.  7 ;  xeii.  2,  3.) 

TTittit  27,  It  is  true  that  it  is  very  good  to  prepare  for  and 
end  the  SabbAih  with  holy  affoctions ;  yet  if  a  seventh  part  of 
weekly  time  be  due  to  God,  as  six  parts  of  it  are  due  to  us, 
through  llie  goodness  of  God.  then  let  God  be  glorified  as  God, 
and  the  whole  day  allowed  him  as  bis  day.  Let  Cicsar  have  his 
due.  and  God  his. 

Tkegit  28.  Others  allow  Ihe  Lord  hia  whole  time,  but  they 
think  that  he  hath  tixed  the  l>eginDing  of  it  at  the  gates  of  mid- 
night, "which  midnight  they  call  morning,  or  morning  midnight, 
or  midnight  morning,  and  therefore  they  imagine  qui  of  Gen.  i. 


I 


I 


TSE    BEGIVNI.NG    OF    THE    S&RBATH. 

the  morning  viaa  Imlf  night  wherein  lime  begun,  and  half 
4>7 :  six  hours  night  from  iniclnight  to  six,  and  six  hours  day 
from  six  to  midday ;  and  by  the  same  proportion,  the  evening  to 
be^n  at  midday,  and  so  to  conlinue  six  hour«  day  from  twelve 
to  six,  and  aix  hours  night  from  six  to  midnight ;  and  Iberelbre 
they  uy,  that  God  is  said  to  atrelch  the  north  upon  the  emply,~ 
(Job  xxvi.  7,)  because  tlie  first  beginning  of  the  notion  uf  lime 
began  from  the  north  point,  when  darkness  was  first  upon  ihe 
flee  of  the  deep,  and  from  this  north  point  in  the  revolution  of 
Uic  heavens  we  do  account  it  midnight,  as  bt-ing  opposite  lo  the 
)uth,  which  in  the  course  of  the  sun  is  at  midday  ;  and  therefore 
•1m>  they  say  that  evening  is  never  taken  in  all  the  Scripture 
Jtir  the  whole  nigbc,  but  as  evening  begins  at  midday,  so  morning 
begins  at  midnight." 

T^en't  29.     But  if  the  first  day,  and  consequently  the  Sabbath 

day,  should  begin  at  midnight,  it  were  meet  to  give  a  demoiistra- 

~'  in  that  this  first  darkness  should  continue  just  six  hours,  or  half 

e  lime  of  such  a  night  when  ilie  sun  is  in  the  equinoctial ;  but 

although  it  be  certain  Ihut  the  first  time  began  in  darkness,  yet  it 

b  whirilj  uncertain  whether  this  darkness  continued  but  six  hours. 

l-XHOchius  and  many  others  have  very  good  cards  to  show  that  ihii 

Srst  darkness  continued  a  complete  night  of  twelve  hours;  others,  ~ 

Ml  the  other  hand,  make  it  far  leas ;  certain  it  is,  it  continued  some 

■Onaiderable  space  of  time,  in  that  it  bath  the  name  of  niglil  put 

ion  it ;  bat  that  it  should  be  just  fix  hours,  neither  can  man's 

■son  demonstrate  it,  nor  haih  God  in  any  scripture  rvvenled  It, 

It  it  in  a  mere  uncertainty,  and  therefore  an  ill  foundation  for 

■tettling  Ihe  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  upon.  -— . 

Thtiit  SO.     Some  would  prove  the  Sabbath  to  begin  nt  mid-1 

Bight,  because  Christ  arose  at  midniglit,  and  he  arose  at  midnight  1 

^cuaee  Samson,   a  type  of  Christ,  carried  away  the  gales  of 

Oaxa  at  midnight,  (Judg.  xri.  3 ;)  but  such  allegorical  reasonings 

were  fit  tools  for  blind  monks  in  former  times  to  delude  the  aim- 

fie  p«ople  wiih.     I  suppose  men  are  wiser  now  than  to  l>e  fed 

irilh  wind  and  cluitr,  and  to  build  their  faith  upon  cozening  alle- 

yorie*  of  human  wit,  by  which  as  the  blind  monks  of  old  did  feud 

'^  people,  so  Ihe  Fnmilisla  now  deceive  the  world ;  both  which  ' 

n  the  fruila  uf  God's  heavy  curse  upon  their  hearts,  who,  because 

bey  did  not  lave  the  truth  to  feed  upon  it,  are  therefore  fed  wiih  \ 

saity  of  mind.  ■  -^ 

TJtetu  31.     It  is  Iruo  Paul  preached  till  midnight,  (Arts  xk. 

7,)  but  dolb  it  hence  follow  that  the  Sabbath  was  to  end  at  tnid- 

nigbti'     Mo,  verily,  for  the  beginning  and  end  uf  the  Sablialh  is 

•ot  BMUur«d  by  man's  preadiiug  a  longer  or  a  shonar  time. 


THE   BICGINMNG    OF   TUE  SABBATn. 

Paul  might  have  continued  preaching  lon^r  than  tlie  Sabbath, 
or  raidniglit,  ihe  case  being  exlratirdinarj  in  reepeci  of  his  depart- 
ure tlie  next  day,  never  to  see  tbeir  faces  moi-e ;  and  he  might 
have  continued  a  ehorier  time  than  the  Sabbath  continued,  as 
our  Saviour  himself  did  before  sunMil,  (Mark  i.  22,  32;)  for  the 
bounds  of  continuance  of  the  Sabbatii  are  not  set  according  to  the 
beginning  and  end  of  any  man's  preaching,  which  is  so  exceeding 
nnccrtain.  Paul's  long  sermon  was  not  ixHitinucd  and  ended  at 
midnight  purposely,  and  becau.'>e  so  long  the  Sabbath  continued ; 
but  occBdionully,  in  regard  of  his  final  departure  from  tliem  Ihe 
next  day :  and  hence  in  respect  of  this  extraordinary  cause  he 
continued  so  long  at  it,  which  in  ordinary  course  had  been  very 
unseasonable. 

TJiftit  32.  It  is  not  said  in  the  first  of  Genesis  that  the 
morning  and  the  evening  were  the  first  day,  as  if  the  day  sbould 
begin  at  morning  midnight:  but  the  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  lirst  day ;  and  therefore  it  in  strange  that  any  should 
derive  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  from  morning  midnight  out 
of  this  texL  The  Grecians,  because  they  begin  the  day  at  the 
evening  of  eunseE,  did  therefore  orderly  call  their  natural  day 
(2  Cor.  xj.  25)  i-ux6^uf(/or-,  and  is  it  probable  that  Moses  would 
e|icak  disorderly,  rt  ordine  rttroffradtt,  here  ?  and  not  ralber 
according  to  llie  interpretation  of  Daniel,  who  calls  twenty-tbree 
hundred  days  by  name  of  Glinereb  liuier,  which  signifies  even- 
ingt,  momingt,  because  tite  evening,  not  the  morning,  much  less 
midnight  morning,  is  to  begin  the  day.  (Dan.  xiv.  26.) 

TTim*  33.  It  is  true  that  sometimes  those  things  which  are 
first  in  order  of  time  are  spoken  of  last  in  order  of  story ;  luul 
therefore  it  is  no  solid  argument  to  prove  that  the  evening  is  he- 
fore  the  morning,  merely  because  the  evening  is  set  down  first 
before  the  morning,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that  the  story  sets 
down  such  things  (and  so  Ibis  in  particular)  orderly  ;  which  I 
suppose  is  evident,  1.  Because  tlie  first  darkness  is  called  night, 
and  also  comprehends  llie  whole  time  of  night,  as  light  compre- 
hends the  whole  lime  of  the  day.  (Gen.  i.  4,  0.)  Now,  I  do  not 
find  in  oil  the  Scripture,  nor  is  any  man,  I  [hink,  able  to  show,  that 
the  whole  night  is  taken  for  the  morning ;  and  therefore  the  first 
darkness  could  not  possibly  begin  at  the  morning  or  midnight 
morning.  2.  Because  [he  scope  of  Moses  in  this  chapter  is  to  set 
down  not  only  the  work  of  creation,  hut  (be  exact  order  of  it,  and 
consequently  of  the  order  of  lirae,  which  was  consecrated  with 
the  world  ;  first  the  beginning  of  it,  then  the  succeiijion  and  vicis- 
"f  it,  first  in  the  dark  night,  then  i 


e  light  day. 


U  one)  firat  in  the  evening,  then  in  th«  moniing.     8. 


TlIK  Bl 


ilE    SABBATH. 


t cause  ihe  evening  may  be  the  end  of  tlie  artificial  day; 
.  I  know  no  prooi'  from  any  instance  in  Scripture  to  make 
It  ihe  eiwl  of  the  natural  day,  of  which  Moses  liere  Bpeaka ; 
and  therefore  as  evening  can  not  end  the  day,  so  midnight  morn- 
ing can  not  begin  it. 

TKnm  34.     To  aSirm   that  the  evening  ia  never  taken  in 

I  Scripture  for  the  whole  night,  and  that  therefore  by  the  evening 
we  are  to  understand  six  hours  day  and  six  hours  aighu  as  the 
Wnsequence  in  most  weak,  so  the  assertion  is  most  false,  as  may 
'•ppear  to  any  who  seriously  ponders  these  and  such  like  scrip- 
tares :  Hab.  i.  8  ;  Ps.  xuii.  2;  Jobvii.  4:  Deut.  xxviii.  6U,  C7 ; 
Zach.  xiv.  7  ;  Is.  xxi.  12. 
Thftit  35.  Nor  can  it  be  proved  that  the  evening  begins  at 
■aidday,  which  is  their  principal  argument  lo  prove  that  Ihe 
SDorning  begins  at  midnight. 

"Dietit  36.  For,,  though  it  be  said  (Ex.  xxix.  38,39; 
xii.  (i)  that  the  lamb  was  to  be  slain  between  the  two  evenings, 
(as  it  in  iu  the  Hebrew.)  yet  neither  these  or  any  sucli  scriptures 
are  able  tu  prove  that  one  of  those  evenings  must  necessarily 
begin  at  midday ;  but  only  this,  that  some  part  of  the  afler- 
nooa,  when  the  sun  was  in  his  declining,  was  one  of  these 
evenings :  some  of  tbe  Jewish  rabbins  begin  it  at  noon,  and  yet 
it  is  without  warrant  from  Scripture,  and  they  are  overwhelmed 
with  cross  testimonies  from  most  of  their  fellows,  who  bepn  it 
•ome  about  one,  some  about  two  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon ; 

»Bnd  Joscphus,  (who  knew  best  his  countrymen's  manners.)  and 
who  is  one  of  most  credit  in  his  writings,  tells  us  that  ibey  began 
ttteir  first  evening  about  three  of  the  clock  in  the  afieraoon. 
JTiMit  37.  We  read  indeed  of  the  shadows  of  the  evening, 
(Jer.  vi.  4;)  but  it  dolb  not  hence  follow  that  the  evening  begins 
■t  midday,  but  rather  some  time  after  it,  the  shadows  of  the 
evening  being  the  shadows  of  the  day  declining,  which  therefore 
grow  long;   but  midday  is  no  time  of  declining  shadows. 

»7K#«t«  3d.  Although  tbe  evening  may  be  called  by  human 
cnstom  all  that  part  of  the  day  wherein  we  wish  men  good  even 
jroiB  noon  till  sunset,  yet  it  is  ilien  called  the  evening  in  rt'Spect 
of  the  ariilieial,  not  natural  day,  of  which  Moses  speaks  when  he 
divides  the  day  into  morning  and  evening,  part  of  which  after- 
noon is  also  called  evening  by  the  Iloty  Ghost  in  Scripture; 
because  it  is  either  appronching  or  hasting  loward  the  evening 
of  the  natural  day,  or  contiguous  lo  it ;  even  as  part  of  a  dark 
right  ia  aumetimea  called  morning,  because  it  is  either  contiguous 
or  not  far  from  the  morning  light,  and  men  are  then  usually  up, 
■pd  pniNuiiig  for  it. 


I 


2-2C, 


TIIE  BKGINMNG    OP  THE 


I 


I 


Thftit  3Q.  And  hb  no  text  can  Iw  produced  lo  prore  Ibat 
tbe  evening  begins  ai  midday,  eo  neiiber  can  an;  be  alleged  to 
prove  ibc  morning  to  begin  at  mtdniglit;  the  Scripture  (speak- 
ing properly)  putting  an  enpress  difftrence  belween  midnight, 
coult -crowing,  and  morning.  (Mark  xiii.  35.) 

Tlietii  40.  And  llierefore  to  translate  llie  words  in  Gen 
So  wag  the  evening,  so  was  the  morning  the  first  day  :  and  then 
and  this  gloss  and  interpretation,  viz.,  that  out  of  the  premises 
of  night  and  day,  so  was  the  evening  mixed  of  tliem  both ;  fO 
vias  the  morning  also  compounded  of  both,  to  wii,  of  ni 
and  light ;  this,  I  say,  is  but  words ;  here  is  no  proof  for  such  en 
interpretation.  Junius's  translation  is  best  and  most  clear,  and 
rntional,  viz.,  So  was  the  evening  and  the  morning  of  the  first 
da^;  for,  as  hath  been  said,  the  whole  time  of  night  ia  never 
called  by  the  name  of  morning;  let  any  roan  show  the  least  tittle 
in  any  scripture  of  it,  and  I  will  yield  to  them  in  this  cause. 

T/iriu  41.  To  affirm  that  the  division  of  the  natural  day 
(Gen.  i.)  into  day  and  uight  was  for  civil  use,  and  into  evening 
and  morning  for  religious  use,  in  respect  of  the  evening  and 
morning  sacrilice,  a  long  time  aJ^r,  ie  Just  such  a  device  as  his 
who  would  needs  think  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  was  called 
/ila  auSSoioii-,  hecause  God  foresaw  and  ordained  the  change 
of  the  Sabbath  unto  that  first  day ;  for  we  know  God  speaks  of 
things  as  tbey  were  then  in  their  nature,  when  tbey  did  first 
exist,  Ijefore  sacrifices  were  thought  of;  Adam  called  the  names 
of  things  according  to  their  natures  and  special  use,  and  is  it 
credible  that  before  his  fall,  where  there  was  no  use  of  sacrifices, 
that  he  should  know  of  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  in  which 
respect  it  was  called  evening  morning?  And  yet  suppose  it  was 
in  respect  of  religious  use  that  these  names  are  given  to  each 
day  ;  yet  why  must  not  the  evening  begin  the  day  rather  than 
the  morning  ?  it  being,  as  halh  been  proved,  lii'st  in  being  as  it 
is  first  in  naming. 

nmt  42.  It  is  true,  the  time  before  day  (Mark  i.  35) 
is  called  early  morning,  and  we  read  of  the  morning  watch 
before  daylight,  (Ex.  xiv.  24;)  yet  these  places  no  way  prove 
that  which  tbey  are  produced  for,  viz.,  that  morning  begins  at 
midnight;  that  Christ  went  to  prayer  at  midnight,  because  he 
went  to  it  in  the  early  morning,  or  that  the  morning  watch 
began  at  midnight;  for  we  know  it  was  some  time  after  it; 
these  places,  indeed,  show  thus  much :  that  some  time  before 
daylight  is  sometimes  called  morning,  which  is  readily  acknowl- 
edged in  the  respects  forementioned. 

Thttii    43.     The  angels  indeed  were  created  togather  with   , 


I 


the  third  lieiiven,  (Gen.  i.  1,)  iu  ibe  beginning  of  lime;  for, 
being  incorruptible,  (as  tbe  third  heaven  is,)  they  could  not  be 
•fterwnrd  cretited  out  of  tbe  fit^^t  matter,  as  all  ibis  visible 
and  corruptible  world  was ;  therefore  the  earth  is  said  to  be 
dark  and  void,  (i.  e.,  of  all  inhabitants  and  beautiful  form,)  in 
opposition  to  ibe  third  heaven,  which  was  made  with  it,  which 
was  lightsome  and  full  of  inhabitants,  vie.,  the  angels;  and  if 
it  was  a  kin^om  prepared  from  the  foundation  of  llie  world, 
surely  Ibis  kingdom  had  a  king  then,  and  this  king  had  his  eub- 
jectd;  who  could  they  then  be  but  angels?  but  to  infer  from 
hence  that  this  lime  of  darkness,  wherein  tbe  angels  were  created, 
■liould  be  morning,  and  that  Ihereforo  they  are  called  by  Job  the 
morning  stars,  (Job  xxxviii.  6,  7,)  as  some  imaginej  will  follow 
no  more  than  as  if  one  should  affirm  that  the  King  of  Babel 
(called  Lucifer)  was  certainly  bom  in  the  morning,  because  be 
kIso  is  called  a  morning  star,  (Is.  xiv.  IS;)  for  vho  sees  not  but 
that  the  speech  is  metaphorical  in  both?  glorious  excellency 
above  others  being  bestowed  on  them,  as  special  brightness  and 
luster  b  given  to  the  morning  star. 

7%eiii  44.  Belshazzar  is  said  to  be  stuin  in  the  night,  (Obii. 
\.  30,)  which  the  prophet  Isaiah  boa  foretold  should  be  in  the 
morning,  (Is.  xlvii.  11 ;)  but  will  it  follow  hence  that  ihe  morn- 
ing is  the  lime  of  midnight  ?  Might  it  not  be  after  midnight  as 
well?  for  the  text  is  silent  ;  and  yet  I  do  not  think  thiU  the 
word  morning  in  Isaiah  is  meant  of  Enidnight,  nor  any  part  of 
any  night,  bui.  by  a  meiaphor,  the  apparent  time  of  tbe  beginning 
of  his  misery,  (the  light  of  the  morning  manifesting  all  things 
^purenlly,)  the  Lord  also  alluding  to  the  manner  of  human  judi- 
Mlures,  who  were  wont  to  pass  the  sentence  and  inflict  it  in  the 
norning,  as  the  Scripture  frequently  holds  forth. 

T^tit  45.  Though  also  it  be  Irue  that  the  Lord  smote  tbe 
Kgyptions  at  mldnighl,  and  ihat  ibe  Israelites  were  prohibited 
from  stirring  out  of  doors  till  morning,  (Ex.  ziL  22, 29, 30,)  and  yet 
that  they  did  itir  up  one  another  to  depart  before  morning 
light,  yet  it  will  not  hence  follow  (as  some  would  infer)  that 
raid.iight  was  ihe  beginning  of  their  morning;  for  then,  I.  They 
might  have  risen  at  midnight,  just  when  God  was  destroying  the 
Egyptians*  tint  bom,  for  that  was  part  of  the  morning  by  this 
account,  'i.  Tlicy  are  prohibited  from  stirring  out  of  doors  till 
morning,  as  of  themselves:  yet  if  God,  and  Fboraob,  and 
Muses  will  force  them  out,  there  is  no  rule  broken  by  stirring 
out  in  such  a  c»se  before  daylight  morning.  3.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  there  was  some  good  «pac«v  after  midnight  before 
they  stirred  out,  which  is  said  to  be  in  the  morning  natch  ;  for 


I 
I 


m  S28 


'    Tile    SABUATH. 


I 


(he  dealh  stroke  was  Htmiclniglil,  nfler  which  Fharnoh  and  his 
council  Diust  Bit  anil  consult,  and  conclude  what  lo  do,  and  send 
for  Mo^ea  ;  after  which  ihere  muBl  be  some  lime  for  Closes  to 
acquaint  the  Israelites  to  mnke  them  lit  and  ready  to  depart 
their  departure ;  therefore  "  in  the  morning  "  was  not  at  midnight 
which  began  this  morning.  4.  Pharaoli  sends  for  Mose«  after 
midnight;  yet  this  lime  is  called  night,  (Ps.  xxx.  31.)  auil  not 
morning;  and  indeed  properly  it  was  not  so,  only  called  so  hy 
an  improper  speech. 

T7ieti4  46.  When  Job  saiih  that  God  stretched  out  ihe  north 
upon  the  empty,  (Job  xxvi.  7,)  it  is  not  spoken  of  the  empty 
chaos,  for  Job  had  no  occasion  to  speak  thereof,  nor  is  it  his  scope ; 
but  of  the  places  near  the  north  pole  which  are  void  and  empty 
of  inhabitants,  none  being  able  now  to  dwell  in  that  frigid   zone. 

TAeiit  47.  If  God  hath  set  any  time  to  begin  the  Sabbath, 
surely  it  is  such  a  time  as  may  be  ordinarily  and  readily  known, 
(hat  so  here  (as  well  as  in  all  other  ordinances)  the  Sabbath  may  be 
begun  with  prayer,  and  ended  with  praise :  but  if  it  should  begin  at 
midnight,  what  man  of  a  thousand  can  readily  lell  the  certain  time 
when  it  begins,  that  so  they  may  in  a  holy  manner  begin  the 
Sabbath  with  God  ?  All  men  have  not  the  midnight  clocks  and 
bells  to  awaken  them,  nor  con  the  crowing  of  cocks  herein  give  a 
certiun  sound ;  a  poor  Christian  man  had  need  be  a  good  and 
watchful  mathematician  that  holds  this  opinion,  or  else  1  see  not 
how  he  will  know  when  midnight  is  come ;  and  if  he  can  not, 
then  it  is  very  considerable,  and  to  me  unquestionable,  that  that 
can  not  be  the  beginning  of  holy  time  which  can  not  be  begun 
in  a  holy  manner:  there  was  never  any  ordinance  of  God  but  it 
was  so  ordered  as  that  it  might  ordinarily  be  begun  and  ended 
with  God ;  wliich  makes  me  question  that  the  beginning  of  it  at 
moniing  midnight  can  not  be  of  God. 

TArtit  48.  Others  there  be  who  do  not  begin  the  Sabbath  at 
morning  midnight,  but  begin  and  end  it  at  morning  light,  at  the 
rising  of  Ihe  sun,  and  the  light  of  it ;  who  indeed  are  assisted 
with  better  proofs  and  stronger  arguments  than  any  of  ihe  rest, 
»nd  therefore  need  trial,  and  we  have  need  to  know  what  weight 
they  are  of ;  as  also  to  bo  accurately  wary  lest  the  nrle  of 
love  be  broken  Ipward  such  gracious  and  learned  servants  of 
'  God ;  considering  how  much  Ihey  have  to  say  in  this  point,  in 
which  case,  much  love,  rci^pect,  and  indulgence  hath  been  ever 
accounted  necessary  by  men  of  moderate  and  sober  minds, 

Tktfit  49.  The  six  working  days  being  considered  absolutely 
in  themselves,  in  this  re.«]iect  it  is  no  matter  whether  they  begin 
M  evening,  or  morning,  or  midnight,  or  midday  ;  nor  is  it  in  this 


I  begin  and  end  llie  days  according  lo  l]i«  custom 
n  where  we  live  ;  but  because  thew  days  are 
'  lo  be  considered  relatively  in  respect  of  the  seventh  day,  hence 
the  week  days  are  so  to  be  begun  as  that  their  relation  to  ilie 
seventh  be  not  disturbed,  so  as  that  tlie  bounds  and  limits  of  the 
Sabbath  be  not  impaired  or  iransj^ressed :  for  there  is  no  religious 
necessity  to  begin  snd  end  civil  lime  with  sacred  ;  nor  is  it 
so  uncomely  as  it  may  seem,  at  Hrst  bluah,  lo  give  God  and  Ciesor 
their  due  ;  civil  accounts  to  the  one,  and  sacred  to  the  other ; 
for  when  the  Jews  were  subdued  by  the  Romans,  tliey  might  and 
did  begin  their  reckoning  of  civil  time  as  the  Romajis  did,  and 
yet  reserve  the  bounds  of  sacred  time  wholly  unto  God.  They 
did  the  like  in  England  many  years  since,  saith  M.  Fox,  and  that 
their  civil  days  began  in  the  morning,  and  religious  days  in  the 
evening  ;  and  when  they  did  thus  variously  begin  their  days, 
there  was  no  suck  indecent  disproportion  of  times  as  Ber.  Mr. 
Cleaver  imagines,  in  the  like  case,  if  holy  time  should  not  begin 
with  morning,  wliich  he  pleads  for. 

TfitM  bo.  The  principal  foundations  of  this  opinion  are  the 
words  of  the  four  evangelists.  (Matt,  xiviii.  1.  Mark  xvi.  1,  2. 
Luke  xxiv.  1.  John  xx.  1,)  Among  all  of  which  that  of  KlalL 
xxviti.  1  hath  most  weight,  wherein  it  is  said.  "  In  the  end  of  the 
Sabbath,  as  it  began  lo  dawn  toward  the  Hrst  day  of  the  week," 
etc.,  from  whence  it  seems  to  follow,  that  if  the  Sabbath  day  did 
end  at  the  dawning  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  thai  then  the 
dawning  or  the  daylight  of  the  first  day  must  be  the  beginning 
t  tilt!  Sabbath  day,  or  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 
"Dttti*  bl.  The  consideration  of  this  scripture  hath  caused 
Be,  very  judicious,  (vii.,  Beza,  Junius,  and  others,)  who  con- 
nive the  Sabbath  to  I>egin  at  even,  to  allimi,  upon  very  proba- 
'  'a  grounds,  that  there  was  among  the  Jews,  at  this  lime  under 
r  RumNu  bondage,  a  double  account  and  reckoning  of  the  days 
the  week.  1.  Civil.  2.  Sacred  account.  According  lo  sa- 
I  account,  («ay  ihcy,)  the  church  of  God  began  their  Sab- 
h  at  evening,  not  morning,  which  they  demonstrate  i'rom  sun- 
y  pregnant  texts  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  but  accord- 
g  to  the  civil  account  of  the  Romans,  who  gave  the  precedency 
(a  the  morning  before  the  evening,  they  l>egau  it  therefore  in  the 
morning,  and  according  to  this  latter  account  they  suppose  the 
evangelists  to  speak. 

Thent  ht.     But  if  the  several  texts  be  duly  examined,  right- 


lerpreled,  there  will  i 


I 


t  appear 


t  from  this  place,  but  rather  that 
cUsu,  which  arc  ordinarily  produced  lo  evince  the  beginning 


I 


p 


I 


of  tbe  SitblHtth  ftt  morning,  will  bring  in  strong  evidence  to  de- 
monatrale  ila  beginning  rather  on  ihe  evening  before. 

TTifgit  53.  For  this  dawning  toward  ihe  fii'st  day  of  the 
week  is  meant  of  iho  artihcifll  ila^,  or  the  light  of  (he  ^rst  day 
of  the  week,  as  the  word  dawning  implies,  and  the  evidence  of 
Iheir  fact  in  coming  to  iho  sepulchre  deraonstrales  aa  much  ;  for 
it  is  not  tlie  scope  of  the  evangelist  to  set  down  when  tbe  first 
day  of  Ihe  week  began,  hut  al  what  lime  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  such  and  such  actions  fell  out:  any  thing  done  in  any  time 
of  the  day,  whether  at  six  or  nine,  or  two  of  the  clock,  may  be 
said  to  be  done  that  day ;  but  it  will  not  follow  that  they  are 
therefore  done  in  the  beginning  of  that  day.  I  meet  with  two 
exceptions  here. 

1.  Some  say  that  it  might  be  meant  of  the  artificial  day 
if  Ihe  words  had  run  thus,  vix.,  nt  the  ''  dawning  of  the  day," 
or  tbe  first  day  of  the  week  about  the  dawning  of  the  day  ;  but 
Ihe  dawning  toward  the  first  day,  this  phrase  (they  sny)  seems 
to  describe  the  beginning  of  such  a  day  as  stands  in  relation  to 
the  whole  week,  and  all  the  other  days  of  the  week,  which 
are  to  be  taken  for  natural  days.  But,  1.  There  is,  I  hope,  a 
first  artificial  day  of  the  week,  as  well  as  a  natural.  3.  This  arti- 
ficial day  doth  not  in  this  account  exclude  the  night  before  as 
part  of  the  first  day,  and  consequently  the  natural  day,  consist- 
ing of '  night  and  light  t  therefore  it  may  well  stand  in  relation 
to  the  other  days  of  the  week  which  were  natural ;  for  although 
the  cvaDgclist  seta  down  particularly  when  these  things  about  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  happened  to  be,  viz.,  at  the  dawning  toward 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  yet  we,  that  begin  the  Sabbath  at  even- 
ing, may  and  do  use  the  same  phrase,  and  yet  so  speak  of  the 
artificial  day  upon  which  some  event  begins,  as  not  to  exclude  the 
night  before  upon  which  the  natural  day  begins.  3.  Compare 
the  evangelists,  and  the  dawning,  in  Matthew,  toward  the  Snt  day, 
will  be  found  to  bo  all  one  with  this  phrase,  viz.,'  the  first  day 
about  or  at  Ihe  dawning  of  it :  for  that  which  Matthew  calls 
dawning  to  the  first  day,  Mark  calls  early  in  the  morning, 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  at  Ihe  rising  of  the  sun ;  and  Luke 
calls  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  very  early  in  the  morning : 
whence  it  is  evident  that  Matthew's  dawning  to  the  first  day  is 
mil  one  with  about  the  rising  of  the  sun  upon  the  first  day :  so 
that  this  diifercnce  between  dawning  toward  tbe  first  day,  and 
the  dawning  upon  the  firsi  day,  seems  to  be  an  Etiglish  cabalism, 
Mid  a  mere  curiosity  exhaled  and  extracted  out  of  the 
rather  than  any  solid  truth  which  the  text  holds  forth,  or 
Spirit  of  God  aimed  at. 


rords;  I 

«■  the  I 


THE  BEGIXNINQ    UP    THF.  SABBATH. 


231 


1,  A  seconii  exception  is,  tli<il  thougli  llie  words  dag  in  Scrip- 
)  be  taken  Tor  the  artJKcial  day,  yet  never  when  Ilio  first, 
second,  or  thinl  day,  etc.,  are  joined  togetbur:  and  tliey  point  us 
to  the  fir^t  of  Genesis,  where,  when  the  first  or  second  tlay  is 
meniiuncd,  ii  is  constantly  meant  of  n  natural  and  not  an  artifi- 
cial day.  But,  1,  Tliis  ia  a  great  mistake  i  for  the  day  of  the 
Levites'  travel  (which  was  not  in  the  night,  but  upon  the  artifi- 
cial day)  is  called  tbe  fourth  day,  (Judg.  xix.  5,)  and  the 
fifth  day.  (ver.  8.)  2.  This  artificial  day  may  be  called  the 
first  day.  as  that  it  may  involve  tbe  night  before,  (where  we  make 
the  Sabbath  to  begin,)  as  well  as  the  night  after,  on  which  they 
make  the  Sabbath  lo  end;  and  thus  Ilie  natural  day  may  be 
here  comprehended  also,  (which  they  plead  for;)  the  same  day 
which  artificially  begins  at  daylight  may  naturally  begin  the 
night  before. 

The*it  bi.  If  we  should  suppose  that  this  day  is  meant  of 
the  artificial  day,  yet  there  is  a  harder  knot  to  be  unloosed  in 
tbe  words  of  Matthew,  who  atHrms  that  this  daylight  or  day- 
dawn  was  the  end  of  the  Sabbath ;  whereby  it  seeras  that  the 
Sabbatb  began  at  tbe  dawning  of  the  day  before,  and  therefore 
it  ends  at  the  dawning  of  tlie  first  day  following ;  and  hence  they 
infer  tliat  the  daylight  of  this  first  day  can  not  belong  to  the 
night  of  llie  Jewish  Sabbath,  which  immediately  went  before. 
And  I  confess  the  argument  is  strong  and  undeniable,  as  the 
words  lie  under  the  gloss.  We  must  therefore  inquire  more  nar- 
Xttwly  into  the  true  translation  of  the  words,  and  their  meaning. 
7%ttu  5!<.  That,  therefore,  which  we  translate  tlic  end  of 
I  Sabbath,  is  in  tbe  original  Aifi  Si  onfifiurui'',  which  words 
B  rarioualy  translated ;  we  shall  only  observe  that  the  Greek 
1  i^i  halb  a  double  signification,  in  frequent  use   among 

1.  Somewbile  it  signifies  late  time,  or  the  extreme  and  last 
i  of  the  continuance  of  any  thing,  aa  /"I'i  if^i  tf^g^i  i.  e., 
lale  time,  or  latter  time  of  the  day. 
i.  Sometimes  it  signifies  a  long  lime  afler,  as  iv*  >4>  rpianr, 
Lea  long  time  after  the  Trojan  war.  Now,  in  this  place  it  is 
I  to  be  translated,  and  in  this  latter  sense,  thus,  "  a  long  time,"  or 
"  a  good  while  after  tbe  Sabbath  was  ended,  as  it  began  to  daHU  to 
the  first  day  of  the  week,"  etc  ;  which  interpretation,  if  it  be  mode 
good,  will  clear  up  this  ditBculty,  viz.,  that  the  Jewish  Sabbnili  did 
not  end  at  tbe  dawning  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but  long 
before  ;  nor,  indeed,  durst  I  incline  to  this  interpretation,  if  1  did 
not  see  the  evangelists  (tbe  best  interpreters  one  of  another) 
nuking  tb«  tome  to  my  hand. 


I 


SABBATH. 

Hiesit  o6.  For  drst.  Murk,  who  writ  ufler  Matthew,  nad  is 
best  able  to  interpret  his  words,  expressly  saith  ihal  tlie  Snbbath 
was  pasL  when  the  women  ctuiie  lu  the  sepuleher ;  his  words 
are,  SiaytruiAirov  oufffitlfou,  the  Sabbalh  being  past.  (Mark  x\\.) 
1.  Hence,  thercrore,  if  Maiihew'a  words  should  be  translated, 
late  on  the  Sabbath,  or  U>wai-d  the  end  of  the  Sabbath,  then 
the  Sabbath  was  not  already  past,  (as  Mark  aflirms,)  but  draw- 
ing toward  an  end.  iklark,  therefure,  telling  us  that  the  Sab- 
bath was  ended,  and  yet  not  telling  us  when  it  ended,  wh3r 
should  we  not  harmonize  the  evangelists  by  Matthew's  words, 
whieli  tell  us  that  it  was  long  before  ?  2.  The  time  of  the  com- 
ing of  some  of  the  women  to  the  eepulchcr.  as  it  was  npon  lh« 
first  day  of  the  week,  so  it  was  some  lime  within  ihe  night ;  and 
hence  Mark  tells  us  it  was  very  early,  (Mark  xtL  2,)  which  can 
not  he  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  only  when  it  is  said  also  that  they 
came  to  tbeseptileher;  for  that  is  not  Uat  nqo»,  valde  niorte,  or 
very  early.  Again :  Luke  tells  us  that  it  was  toHqou  ^ddro;, 
Tery  early  or  in  the  depth  of  the  night ;  for  so  the  word  AfS^o; 
frequently  signifies  the  tirae  of  the  night  when  cocks  crow.  I 
forbear  to  instance  in  Greek  writera,  because  the  evangelist  John 
clears  up  this  most  fully,  who  expressly  saith  that  it  was  oaonios 
inl  tOo'ii,  it  being  yet  dark  ;  and  thou^  it  be  said  (Mark  xvi. 
2)  tliat  the  women  came  lo  the  sepulcher  about  the  rising  of  tha 
sun,  yet  Fiscator  and  others  interpret  that  of  their  last  actual 
coming  to  it ;  their  preparation  for  it  being  very  early,  while  it 
was  yet  dark  night ;  and  itseems  there  were  two  comings  by  sev- 
eral of  them  to  the  sepulcher ;  for  it  is  evident  that  Mary  (who 
had  most  aifection)  came  to  the  sepulcher  while  it  was  yet  dark, 
the  rest  of  them  possibly  preparing  tliereunlo.  However  the 
evangelists  be  reconciled,  this  is  evident,  that  the  first  stirring  of 
the  women  about  that  work  from  which  they  abstained  upon  the 
Sabbath  day  was  very  early  in  the  depth  of  the  morning  dark- 
ness, before  the  daylight,  when  some  would  begin  the  Christian 
Sabbath ;  and  from  hence  it  follows,  1.  That  if  the  Sabbath 
was  not  passed  even  before  this  dark  lime  of  the  night  began, 
but  rather  ended  when  the  first  day  of  the  week  began  to  dawn, 
then  it  will  follow  that  these  holy  women  did  not  rest  the  Sab- 
bath according  to  the  commandment ;  for  we  see  they  are  this 
nighl  busy  about  those  things  which  they  did  forbear  to  do  be- 
cause of  the  Sabhath.  [Luke  xx'm.  52.)  2.  Hence  it  will  also 
follow  that  if  the  Sabbath  was  not  ended  before  this  dark  time  of 
Ihe  night,  hut  only  at  the  dawning  of  the  daylight,  then  our 
Saviour  could  not  arise  from  tlie  dead  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
but  within  the  dark  ni^ht  of  the  Jewish  Sabhath  ;  for  Mary  came 
when  it  was  dark,  nnd  the   Lord   Christ  was  lisen  befora   sha 


233       .1 


( 


and  liow  long  before  no  man  can  tdl ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  Christ  aro$e  the  lirst  dnj  of  the  Uf  t-k,  (Mark  xvi.  9.)  and 
tiierefore  the  Saiibnth  voi  ended  long  bi-lbre.  S.  If,  Iherefare, 
die  Sabbath  woa  past  al  the  dark  time  uf  the  night,  how,  then, 
«ra  the  Sabbatli  begin  al  morning  light?  and  if  it  was  passed 
vfaen  it  wax  thus  dark,  when,  tlien,  could  ihe  Sabbath  end,  but 
when  tbia  night  did  first  begin  ?  and  if  this  was  bo,  it  was  then' 
trulj'  ^v'  aHfKiiiiuir,  a  good  while  after  the  Sabbath  wau  ended 
when  this  dawning  toward  the  lirst  day  began,  according  to  Ihn 
interpretation  given. 

T^uit  57.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  thi^  lime  of  darkness  is 
Cftlled  morning;  and  heni-c  some  would  infer  that  the  Subbath 
begins  in  the  morning  ;  but  suppose  it  be  so  entltid,  yet  it  is  not 
called  morning  light,  at  which  lime  they  plead  the  Sabbath  should 
begin :  and  it  is  improperly  called  morning,  because  (as  bath 
been  formerly  shown)  it  is  preparalively  so,  men  usually  prepar- 
ing them  for  the  work  of  the  daylight  following.  Morning  ia 
bUo  frequently  taken  in  Scripture  for  any  early  time,  (Epb.  iii. 
5,)  and  bo  this  night  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  wherein  Ihe 
women  arose  to  their  work,  was  an  early  time,  and  therefore 
cnllt^d  morning.  Again,  suppose  a  double  morning  be  acknowl- 
edged, (as  there  was  a  double  evening,)  yet  it  will  not  follow  that 
this  morning  belongs  only  lo  the  day  folluwiug,  for  it  may  be- 
long to  the  night  before;  for,  as  where  there  are  two  evenings 
■pnkcn  of.  the  former  belongs  to  the  day,  the  latter  to  the  night, 
■0,  if  we  grant  two  mornings,  the  latter  morning  may  belong  to 
the  day  ensuing,  and  the  former  lu  the  night  preceding ;  if,  there- 
fore, any  plead  for  the  beginning  of  the  Subbaih  al  the  morn- 
ing light,  these  places  of  the  cvang'-list  will  not  bear  them  out  in 
it,  it  being  dark  morning  when  Christ  arose  ;  if  they  say  it  be- 
gins in  the  diirk  morning,  then  let  them  set  exactly  the  time  of 
that  dark  morning  wherein  Christ  arose,  and  when  they  would 
begin  it ;  but  no  wit  of  man,  I  fear,  is  able  to  demonstrate  this. 
*  7X?*u  ^8.  And  surely  it  is  of  deep  consideration  to  all  those 
who  would  have  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  to  be  just  at  the 
time  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  on  the  morning,  that  not  any 
Mie  of  the  evangelists  do  set  forth,  or  aim  to  set  forth,  the  exact 
time  of  Christ's  resurrection ;  they  tell  us,  indeed,  the  exact 
time  of  Ihe  women's  preparatioTi  and  coming  tu  the  scpulcher, 
cod  of  the  earthquake,  and  fear  of  the  soldiers,  and  that  these 
things  were  done  in  the  morning,  but  none  of  them  points  out 
the  time  of  Christ's  rising,  nor  is  it  their  seope  to  show  exactly 
when  he  rose,  but  only  to  show  that  lie  was  risen,  and  that  he  ap- 
peared to  many  being  risen,  who  came  to  seek  for  him.     Now, 

ay 


I 


I 


Ki  THE   BEGINNING    OF   TUe   SABBATS. 

HHuredl^,  if  it  bad  been  the  mind  of  God  tliat  his  people  should 
begin  ibe  Siibbaih  when  Christ  bej^an  his  resurrection,  he  would 
have  pointed  ogC  the  exact  liroe  when  he  did  rise,  tliat  so  ibey 
night  exuctly  begin  the  Sabbnlh ;  bnt  none  of  the  evangelists 
point  out  the  time,  nor  is  it  tlieir  scope  exaHly  f o  to  do  ;  nay, 
fliey  do  eiaetly  point  out  when  other  malters  happened  about  the 
«omen'«  coming  to  the  sepulcher,  but  this  in  not  miide  mention 
of}  only  we  miiy  gather  by  laying  mony  things  logpiher  about' 
vbat  time  it  lihuulil  be,  and  therefore  I  marvel  at  them  who 
would  prove  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  at  the  time  of  Christ's 
resurrection  from  the  four  evangelists'  speaking  etactly  to  the 
time  of  the  women's  rising  in  ilie  morning  to  tisil  Christ's  sepul- 
cher, but  not  »  word  of  the  main  thing  this  drives  at,  which  ia 
the  exact  time  of  Christ's  rising. 

TSui't  bS.  Those  that  would  have  the  Sabbath  begin  at 
morning  allege  John  xx.  19,  where  it  is  said,  "that  the  same 
day  at  even,  which  was  ihe  first  day  of  the  week,  Jesus  came 
among  his  disciples,  when  the  doors  were  shut."  which  (say  they) 
was  within  night ;  and  theKlbre  the  night  following  belongs  to 
the  day  before,  which  was  the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  wbii^h  place 
compared,  with  Luke  xxiv.  33,  does  further  clear  up  (as  they 
BHj)  this  truth  ;  for  the  two  disciples  who  went  lu  Emmaus,  and 
met  Christ,  are  said  to  return  to  the  disciples  when  they  are 
Ibus  met  together ;  which  evening  can  not  (say  they)  be  po^ibly 
meant  of  the  Jirst  evening  before  sunlight  was  set,  because  the 
day  being  far  spent,  (vcr.  29,)  and  they  constrained  him  to  abide 
with  them,  (whi<.'h  argute  that  it  was  lair,)  and  tlie  distance  of 
£mmauB  from  JeruHalem  being  sixty  furlongs,  or  eight  miles 
excepting  a  half;  so  tliat  it  wna  impossible  for  them  to  travel 
BO  long  H  journey  in  so  short  a  lime,  within  the  compass  of  the 
first  evening :  heni:e  therefore  it  is  meant  of  the  second  evening, 
which  was  within  night,  which  yet  we  see  belongs  to  the  day 
before.  But  there  are  many  things  considi:rable  to  evacuate 
the  strength  of  these  reasons. 

Thetis  00.  For,  first,  this  invitation  our  Saviour  had  to  stay 
by  the  two  disciples  was  probably  to  some  repast,  some  time 
^ler  high  noon ;  possibly  to  a  late  dinner  ratliisr  than  a  late 
■upper  toward  the  latter  evening ;  and  if  so,  then  the  disciples 
might  easily  come  from  Emmaus  to  Jerusalem  before  sunset  with- 
in the  former  evening  ;  for  the  words  "  toward  evening,"  nt/ui  ta- 
tiii/ur,  may  be  as  well  understood  of  the  first  evening  toward 
two  or  thi-ee  of  the  elook,  as  of  ihe  second  ;  and  if  it  be  object- 
■d,  that  before  the  first  evening  the  day  could  not  be  said  to 
JH   iM   spent,    yet    if    the  words   ba   well   obsurviid,  i 


S35 


Dslation  can  be  forced  from  them,  for  ihe  words  are  xinmcr 

)  ftfii^a,  I.  It.,  "Ihe  (lay  hath  declined,"  which  is  truly  said  of 

any  time  aller  high  noon,  and  llierofore  mif^ht  be  a  fit  season 

to  press  our   Saviour   to   eat;    aa    may  appear  by  comparing 

Uiia  with  a  paralkl  scripture,  (Jud;;.  xtx.  8,  9.)  which  is  almost 

word  for  word  with  this  place  of  Luke :  for  the  Levile's  father 

invitea  him  to  cat  somulhing  at\er  his  early  rUiiig,  (ver.  8,) 

which  was  too    soon    for   suppor,  and    iberefore   stiema    to  be 

rather  to  n  dinner  which  they  tarried  for  until  aher  high  noon, 

or  OS  it  is  iu  the  original,  Divi  rrias'is,  i.  e.,  until  the  day  de- 

«lineil,   (just   as    it    is   here  in  Luke.)    and  then  when  dinner 

I  Was  ended  he  persuades  him  to  stay  still  because  the  day  was 

I  weak,  and  (as  we  translate  it)    toward  evetiin;;,  (as  here  the 

t^isciples  tell   our  Saviour ;)  and    yet   after    Ilieae    persuasions 

0  tarry,  as  late  as  it  wits,  he  departed  and  came  to  Jerusalem 

f 'kefbre  night,  and  from  (hence  lo  Gibeah  (without  any  miracle 

to)  before  sun  was  set,  or  the  latter  evening  ;  and  verily  if  we 

■ay  give  credit  lo  topographers,  Gibeah  was  almost  as  far  from 

r  Beihlem  (from  whence  the  Levite  came)  as  Jerusalem  was  from 

tEromauSi  and  therefore  if  the  Leviie  came  with  hi»  cumber  and 

'concubine  so  many  miles  liefore  the  second  evening,  notwiih- 

•tanding  all  the  arguments  used  from  the  day  declining,  and 

(hat  it  was  lowurd  evening,  why  may  we  not  imagine   the  like 

of  these  disciples  at  Emmaus  much  more?  who  had  no  cumber, 

and  whose  joy  could  not  but  add  wings  (oavery  swift  return  lo  the 

deven  before  the  second  evening,  notwithstanding  the  like  argu- 

s  here  used  in  Luke  xxiv.  29.     And  yet,  secondly,  suppose 

>t  they  invited  our  Saviour  lo  sapper;  yet,  the  former  evening 

igtnning  about  two  or  three  of  the  clock  in  ihe  afternoon,  our 

k'Saviour  might  stay  some  time  to  eat  wiih  them,  and  yet  they  be 

icly  enough  at  Jerusalem  before  the  second  evening ;  for  sup- 


it  Jerusalem  before  the  second  c 
r  Saviour  slaid  an  hour  with  tbeni,  or  more,  after  two  o 
i  of  the  clock ;  yet,  if  a  strong  man  may  walk  ordinarily 
rve  miles  an   hour,   why  inigbl   not   ttic  tidings  of  this  joyful 
i  make   ihem   double   their  pace,  whether  on  fool  or  hurse- 
:,  (no  mention  is  made  of  either,)  and  so  be  tliere  wiihin  an 
li  Imur  and  half,  or  thereabout,  before  the  second  evening  could 

TTietit  ei.  And,  although  our  Saviour  ap)>eared  lo  ihem 
when  i)i«  doors  were  shut,  yet  it  is  not  said  that  the  doors  were 
■htil  because  it  was  nighi,  bnl  for  fear  of  the  Jews  and  ifaeir 
punuivitnts;  that  they  might  not  rush  iu  suddenly  upon  them, 
which  tliey  might  do  in  the  day  as  well  as  in  the  night;  ami 
though  this  was  a  poor  tafepiard  from  their  enemiw,  yi(  it  wa* 


I 
I 


THE 


•ome,  aniJ  the  best  which  ihey  liad.  or  at  leost  could  think  of  at 
such  n  lime  ;  and  ir  our  Saviour  came  to  iLem  when  ihcy  were 
at  supper,  (Mark  xvi.  14,)  and  if  the  ordinary  time  of  the  Jtwn' 
■upper  was  a  iiitle  alter,  or  about  sunset,  (as  might  be  ilemon- 
■tnUcd^  then  the  second  evening  was  not  as  yet  lifgun  ;  no,  not 
when  Chrisl  came,  much  less  before  the  other  Xwo  came,  who 
"were  there  from  Emmaus  before. 

TTittit  62.  It  is  fuiJ,  by  some,  that  if  it  was  not  very  late, 
tlien  the  argumenU  of  the  disciples  to  persuade  Christ  to  Blay 
were  weak  ;  but  it  ^ecms  (say  (hey)  they  were  strong,  because 
it  is  said  "  they  constrained  him  ; "  but  we  know  that  much 
•Section  will  sometimes  urge  a  weak  argument  very  far,  for 
atay  of  some  special  friend  ;  and  when  arguments  will  not  pre- 
vail,  it  will  hold  them  and  constrain  them  by  force  ;  and  thus  it 
■eems  the  discifites  dealt  h'ith  our  Saviour ;  iheir  constraining 
him  was  not  bo  much  by  force  of  ailment  as  violence  and 
force  of  love,  for  so  the  woixls  in  the  original  (;iii^6'i<luic»io) 
properly  signifies  ;  and  hence  it  seems  thai  there  was  day  enough 
above  head  tp  travel  farther  in  ;  otherwise  what  need  such  vio- 
lent persuasions  to  stay  with  them  ?  and  for  any  to  say  that  the 
parallel  of  the  Levite's  father's  persuasions  to  slay,  upon  weak 
grounds,  is  not  the  same  with  this,  because  his  arguments  might  suit 
well  not  to  begin  a  long  journey  when  it  was  past  noou,  whiuh 
was  the  case  there  ;  but  it  is  a  reason  of  no  foi'ce  to  persuade  to 
go  farther  when  a  man  is  in  a  journey  already,  which  is  the  case 
here.  I  say  this  answer  is  against  the  praciice  of  love  in  coni> 
mon  experience  ;  men  weary  in  their  journey  may  stand  in  more 
need  of  persuasions  to  siay  than  they  that  have  not  begun  to 
travel  at  all ;  nor  was  the  Levite's  journey  long  from  Bethlem  to 
Gibcah. 

The^t  63.  Nor  is  it  an  argument  of  any  weight,  from  John 
xxxix.  1,  because  the  two  disciples  are  said  to  abide  with  Christ 
that  day,  that  therefore  the  night  following  did  belong  to  that 
day,  (they  staying,  as  it  is  supposed,  all  night,)  and  consequently 
that  the  day  begins  in  the  morning ;  for  these  disciples  coming 
to  Christ  at  the  tenth  hour,  or  four  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon, 
there  were  then  two  hours  remaming  until  night,  (the  Jews'  ar- 
titlciul  day  continuing  from  six  to  six,)  within  which  time  our 
Saviour  (who  can  do  much  work  in  a  small  time)  might  suffi- 
ciently instruct  them  (for  that  lime)  wiihin  the  space  of  two 


Cientiy  instruct  tiiem  (tor  lliat  lime}  wiium  me  space  oi    two 

^^    hours  ;  and  why  might  they  not  depart  before  the  nigiit  came,  I 

^^L  ■nd   HO   stay  with  him  only  so  short  a  lime  ?     And  yet,   if  they  I 

^■tdid  stay  that  nighl,  they  might,  noiwilhslanding,  be  said  to  stay  I 

^B*that  artificial  day  only,  without  reference  to  any  night  before  or  M 

L    _      _   oi 


I 


THE    BEGIN.VIKG   OF  TQE  SABBATH.  237 

after,  or  lo  any  parP  of  [be  morning  foUuwing  llmt  niglil,  when 
it  is  probable  ihej'  departed,  if  tbey  did  slay  witb  him  all  that 
nigh(. 

Thetit  64.  Tho»e  who  think  that  Paul  would  never  have 
prealihed  till  midnight,  (Acts  xx.  7.)  if  that  night  bod  not  been 
port  of  the  Sabbath  wbieh  began  the  morning  before,  mach  less 
would  he,  after  this  long  sermon,  hare  rommuniuued  with  (hem 
in  the  sacrament,  (ver.  II,)  anleaa  it  Lad  been  the  Sabbath  day, 
miiy  do  well  to  conaider  these  things :  — 

1.  That  tlie  cause  of  taking  in  no  much  of  the  night  following 
for  preaching  till  midnight  wa*  exlroordinary,  viz.,  Paul's  early 
departure  never  to  see  their  faucs  more,  and  lo  say  that  if  this 
night  was  no  part  of  the  Sabbath,  it  was  then  unreasonable  to 
hold  ibem  »o  long  at  it,  is  an  assertion  which  wants  reason,  if  we 
do  but  consider  the  shortness  of  his  time,  the  largeness  of  Paul's 
heart,  speuking  now  for  his  last,  and  the  sweetness  of  their  affec- 
tions OS  might  enaily  enable  them  to  cuntinue  till  midnight 
and  upward,  with  cheerfulness,  and  without  thinking  the  duty 
tedious  and  unreasonably  long.  Paul  therelbre  might  begin  bis 
Krmon  some  part  of  the  daylight,  which  was  part  of  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  continue  it  till  midnight  fallowing,  and  yet  ibis  night  he 
no  part  of  the  Cliristian  Sabbath,  because  it  was  an  extraordinaiy 
cause  which  pressed  him  hereunto. 

2.  That  there  is  nothing  in  the  words  which  will  evince  the 
Sabbath  to  continue  so  long  as  Paul's  sermon  did  ;  for  suppose 
those  who  begin  the  Sabbath  at  evening,  thnt  it  should  be  said 
of  such,  ihei  being  met  together  the  lirst  day  of  the  week  to 
break  bread,  ihcir  teacher,  l)eing  (o  depart  on  the  morrow, 
preached  unto  them,  and  continued  bis  speech  till  midnight ;  will 
this  argue  a  continuance  of  the  same  day  ?  No,  verily  ;  and  the 
like  reason  is  here. 

3.  That  the  Lord's  supper  might  be  and  was  administered  be- 
fore Paul's  sermon;  for  there  is  a  double  breaking  of  bread  in 
the  text:  the  one  is  of  common  bread,  (ver.  II,)  after  Paul  had 
prenched  ;  and  the  other  is  of  holy  bread  in  the  eucharist,  (ver. 
7 ;)  for  the  Syriac  calls  that  breaking  of  tlic  bread  wliich  is  men- 
tioned verse  7,  the  eucharist  or  Lord's  supper  ;  but  that  which 
ia  mentioned  verse  11,  common  brund;  and  the  Gr«ek  word 
jtaaafiMnti  implies  as  much,  and  hence  also  it  is  spoken  of  one 
man  principally,  viz.,  that  when  he  had  broken  bread,  and  eaten, 
and  Ulked  a  long  time  till  break  of  the  day,  be  then  deported,  it 
being  some  ordinary  repast  fur  Paul  after  his  long  preaching, 
and  before  his  long  journey,  and  is  not  therefore  any  sacrsLmonial 
eatinf!  the  manner  of  wliicb  is  wont  to  be  expressed  in  other 


words  than  as  they  ai-e  here  set  down ;  if,  therefore,  Pnol's  enting 
(Ter.  11)  WHS  common  brenil,  it  can  not  be  then  Afltrmed  Lhat  the 
euehwist  wns  then  adiuinisiered  afier  sermon  ut  midniglii,  and  yet 
they  pnrtalcing  of  the  siirirament  thid  diiy.  (ver.  7,)  it  seems  ihere- 
fore  that  it  was  adminii»Iered  soinv  time  before  this  cxlruordinary 
course  of  preaching  began. 

Tlitsit  6J.     Nor  will  it  follow  that  (he  Sabbath  begins  in  the 
morning,  because  the  morning  is  set  before  ihe  itighl,  in  tlie 

gLttlm,  for  the  Subbath,  (Vs.  xcii.  1,  2 ;)  tor,  1.  The  scope  of  the 
inlmtst  is  not  to  set  forth  when  the  Sabbath  begins,  but  how  it 
is  to  be  sanctified  ;  and  that  is  not  only  by  showing  forth  the  lov- 
ing kindness  of  God  every  morning  cm"  daytime,  (for  that  per- 
haps many  will  readily  do,)  but  also  in  the  nighi,  when  men  may 
think  it  loo  unseasonable  or  loo  luce,  and  therefore  in  a  holy  gra- 
dation from  the  less  to  the  greater,  he  first  makes  mention  of  the 
morning.  2.  The  Hebrew  word  for  every  night,  is,  in  Ihe  nights ; 
and  therefore  (suppose  that  this  psalm  is  specially  applicable  to 
the  Sahbath,  which  we  know  some  question)  yet  this  place  will 
as  soon  evince  llie  Sabbath  to  begin  in  the  night  Iwfore  the  morn- 
ing, and  to  be  continued  iti  sweet  affections  ibe  night  after,  as 
tbnt  it  should  begin  in  the  morning,  and  be  continued  the  night  af- 
ter 1  so  that  this  place  will  not  clear  this  cause,  nor  is  there 
any  weight  in  such   kind  of  reasonings. 

Tlifm  66.     Nor  will  it  follow  from  Levit  vii.  15,  with  22, 

29,  30,  and  Ex.  xii.  10,  that  because  the  fleHh  of  the  peace  offer- 
ings was  to  be  eaten  the  same  day,  and  nothing  to  be  left  until 
the_  morning,  (something  like  this  being  spoken  also  of  the 
pnssoTer,)  that  the  day  therefore  began  in  the  morning :  for  in 
Leviticus  there  is  a  double  commandment,  I.  To  eat  the  flesh  of 
their  peace  offerings  the  same  day ;  but  yet  because,  when  they 
have  eaten,  some  bones  and  offul  might  remain,  hence,  2,  They 
aru  commanded  to  leave  nothing  till  the  morning,  which  doth  not 
argue  that  they  had  liberty  to  eat  it  as  long  as  they  might  keep 
it,  but  that,  as  tliey  had  liberty  no  longer  than  the  same  day  to  eat 
it,  BO  nor  liberty  any  longer  than  the  next  morning  so  much  as  to 
keep  any  of  the  relies  of  it.  And  as  for  the  passover,  (a 
place  much  urged  by  some,)  they  were  to  kill  it  on  the  fourteenth 
day,  (Gx.  xii.  6,)  which  they  might  eat  the  night  following,  (ver. 
8,)  yet  so  as  to  leave  nothing  of  it  till  the  morning,  (ver.  10.) 
This  night  following  is  not,  therefore,  any  part  of  the  fourteenll^ 
but  of  the  fifteenth  day  :  for  at  midnight  there  was  a  cry,  (ver. 

30,  31,)  and  this  niglit  they  went  from  Rameses  to  Succoth,  (ver. 
37,  with  46,)  and  this  lime  is  expressly  called  the  morrow  after 
the  passover,  (Num.  xxuii.  3  ;]  nor  is  there  any  in< 


!4INr.    OK   THE   HAUIIATII. 


269        1 


I 


rule  broken  to  kill  llie  piissover  upon  one  day,  and  rontinuo 
eating  of  it  M)me  part  of  anollier,  ihe  [lossover  being  a  feast  of 
more  dnys  llian  one. 

Thegii  67.  Nor  dolh  it  follow  that  because  our  Saviour  lelld 
Peter,  (Mark  icii-.  30;  Luke  sxii.  34.)  ibut  this  day,  even  ihia 
night,  (viz.,  of  ihe  pasMver,)  he  Bhould  deny  him,  that  this  night 
tiicrefore  was  any  part  of  the  precedent  day  ;  for  it  may  be  as 
fiiirly  interpreted  to  belong  to  the  day  following  thai  nigltl.  Nur 
b  it  necc8»ary  to  del«rmine  ibis  word  day  attvAys  to  a  determi- 
nate time  of  twenty-four  hours,  of  which  the  night  was  a  pan,  but 
only  of  a  special  aeason  of  time :  for  so  it  \i  frequently  ligunUively 
taken  without  any  rexpect  to  a  diiy  of  twenty-four  or  twelve 
hours,  viz.,  for  a  special  season  of  time  wherein  eome  special 
providence  of  God  doth  appear  and  is  put  into  execution,  aa  It. 
xsix.  la  and  xxv.  9,  and  xxvti.  1 ;  Ex.  xiv.  13 ;  1  Sam.  iv.  7, 8  ; 
X  Sam.  iv.  5,  7,  H. 

Thesit  G8.  It  answers  many  objection.^  produced  against  tho 
beginning  of  the  day  in  the  evening,  for  the  morning,  to  consider 
that  the  word  day  is  frequently  taken  in  Scripture  for  un  artlHcial 
day,  and  that  Ibe  word  morrote  frequently  signifies  a  new  artili- 
cial  day,  which,  in  respect  of,  and  reference  unto,  llie  artificial  day 
going  before  or  following  alVer.  is  no  part  thereof,  but  as  the  prov- 
erb is,  to-niorrow  is  a  new  day ;  and  thus  it  is  taken,  John  xii. 
IS;  vi.  32;  Act»  xxi.  7,  6 ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  H  ;  Acts  xxiii.  31, 
tSi  2  Sam.  xi.  12,  13;  Ex.  x.  4,  13;  DcuL  xxi.  22,  23; 
Josh.  viiL  29,  and  X.  26;  Ex.  vii.  4,11,12,  17,  with  i.  &-13i 
Sx.  xir.  ult.,  with  xxxiv.  2,  4,  2S;  Deut.  ii.  9.  11.  Whence 
•aly  let  ihia  be  noted,  that  to  ai^e  from  hence,  that  to-morrow 
morning  or  to-morrow  daylight  is  the  beginning  of  the  natural 
day,  because  it  is  called  a  new  or  another  day,  is  not  solid ;  nor 
also  tliat  although  the  night  following  the  artificial  day  be 
not  frequently  called  la-morrow,  yet  sometimes  it  is  so  called,  (1 
Sam.  XXX.  17,)  where  the  evening  of  their  morrow  stopped  Da- 
vid, i.  e.,  that  night. 

TKrm  60.  There  are  some  who  confess  that  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath br-gan  at  the  evening  ever  since  the  rrvation  unto  the  time 
of  Christ's  resurrection ;  but  now  they  tell  us  that  it  begins  in 
the  morning,  because  of  Christ's  resurrection,  (the  cause  of  it,) 
which  began  then  ;  so  ihnt,  as  this  makes  the  change  of  the  day, 
■o  it  makes  a  change  of  the  beginning  of  tho  day  from  evening 
till  morning,  when  the  resurrection  of  Christ  began  ;  hut  the  foe- 
Uencas  of  this  opinion  will  apjteur  from  these  ensuing  cuniider- 
Uions. 

7%M)*  70.     1.   Contider.    Thitt  the  foundation  of  ibis  opimoD 


I 


240  TUK  BisGiKxiNi;  OF  TriK  sAit&*Tn. 

ia  Bxceediiig  roKen,  viz..  Hint  the  day  must  not  begin  until 
thnt  work  whii-h  ot^caeions  the  chnnge  duih  actually  exist. 
But  we  know  that  the  passover  began  before  tlic  work  which 
did  occasion  it  ilid  actually  exist,  vie.,  the  angels  passing  over 
the  l9rBelii«siiimidnight,(Ex.  icit.29,  with  xii.  13, 14,and  vi.  8  ;) 
indeed,  the  Christian  Sabbath  day  is  not  before  the  day  o(  Christ's 
resurrection ;  yel  the  beginning  of  this  day  may  be  before  [be 
beginning  of  the  resurreclion,  as  it  was  in  the  passoTev. 

2.  Contider.  Thai  if  any  of  the  evangelists  hod  intended  a 
new  beginning  of  the  Sabbath  at  morning,  that  they  would  then 
have  set  down  the  exac;t  time  of  the  Lord's  resurrection ;  but 
none  of  them  do  this ;  they  set  down  the  time  of  olher  things  lo 
prove  tliAt  Christ  was  risen,  but  not  the  exact  time  of  the  resur- 
rection, for  it  is  wholly  uncertain  ;  certain  it  is  that  it  was  before 
daylight  began  ;  for  Mary  came  and  found  him  risen  while  it  was 
yet  dark,  (John  xx.  1,)  and  how  long  he  was  risen  before,  who 
can  determine  ? 

3.  Cuniider.  That  if  Christ's  resurrection  began  the  Sabbath, 
■0  that  in  that  moment  and  point  of  time  wherein  Christ  arose 
tLe  Christian  Sabbath  began,  iben  Christ  could  not  lie  three 
days  in  the  grave  j  for  either  he  lay  three  days  according  to  the 
Jewish  account,  beginning  the  day  at  evening,  and  then  the 
third  day  on  which  Christ  arose  (which  also  was  the  first  day) 
roust  begin  at  evening,  as  we  plead  for,  or  else  he  must  lie 
three  days  according  to  ihe  new  account,  which  begins  ihe  third 
day  in  the  morning,  leaving  out  the  night  before  as  not  apper- 
taining to  any  pait  of  the  week  before  or  after  i  but  according  lo 
Ihis  reckoning  it  is  impossible  that  Christ  should  he  three  days  in 
the  grave :  he  may  be  then  indeed  said  lo  arise  the  third  day, 
but  not  to  lie  any  part  of  the  third  day,  because  lying  in  the 
grave  implies  some  time  of  continuance  therein  upon  the  third 
day ;  but  how  could  this  be  when  they  say  that  the  moment  of 
Christ's  resurrection  began  the  day  of  uur  Christian  Sabbath  ? 

4.  Contider.  If  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  the  last  day  of  the 
week,  and  began  and  ended  at  evening,  then  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath must  either  begin  at  evening,  when  the  Jewish  Sabbatll 
ended,  or  the  first  day  of  the  week  can  not  be  the  Christian  Sid>- 
baih,  but  only  a  part  of  the  first  day,  and  part  of  the  second  day  ; 
tor  the  night  which  goes  before  the  Christian  Sabbalh  either,  1,  they 
must  make  it  to  belong  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  then  that  Sab- 
bath must  be  sanctified  thirty-six  hours,  and  so  it  must  be  more  than 
>  day  which  is  sanclitied,  which  is  absurd ;  or,  2,  ibey  must  make 
it  belong  lo  the  CLrisiiun  Sabbath,  and  then  they  can  not  make  it 
begin  in  the  momhig;  or,  3,  they  must  leave  it  out  from  all 


^P«U1  I 

■    Ibere 


even,  and  iKol 
«CDnie  of  that  I 
y  of  the  week  ' 


weeklj'  account,  Hud  so  take  in  the  night  Tolloiving  (wliiyh  i 
of  the  secoml  day)  as  part  of  Ihe  Sabbalh. 

Coiuider,  That  llie  seventh  part  of  time  can  not  be  orderly 
1  lo  God,  but  it  mugc  be  either  the  first  or  last  seventh,  (ma 
been  shown;)  and  the  moralitj'  of  the  fourth  commandment 
rroui  not  be  observed  without  giving  to  God  either  of  these ;  if 
Iberefore  the  Jewish  Sabbatii  ended  at  even,  the  Cliristian  Sab- 
bath must  immediately  succeed  it,  and  begin  it  then,  or  eUe  a 
moral  mie  is  broken. 

6.  If  the  Jewbb  Sabbath  began  and  ended  at  c 
Christian  Sabbath  began  at  morning,  what  must  become  o 
night  which  is  between  them  both,  and  to  what  day  o 
must  it  belong?  If  any  xuy,  that  it  is  no  matter  whether  i 
long  to  any  or  no,  so  long  as  tipie  runs  on,  tbi«  answer  will  not 
suffice ;  for  though  time  runs  on,  yet  what  orderly  time  is  there 
bere  which  is  running  on  ?  Time  constsis  of  years,  and  ycare  of 
months,  and  months  of  weeks,  and  weeks  of  days ;  to  what  day  or 
what  week  then  must  this  night  belong  ?  They  that  maintain  this 
opinion  do  roundly  allirm  that  it  is  no  absurdity  to  leave  that 
one  night  out  from  weekly,  nor  ns  pertaining  to  any  week  before 
or  after,  but  say  it  was  lost.  Alas !  poor  forlorn  night,  that  art  ,' 
thug  strangely  Ibrsaken  ;  what  a  alnuige  kind  of  night  is  ibis 
which  belongs  to  no  day !  Wbut  a  misslmpen  lump  of  lime  art 
thou,  and  yet  how  canst  thou  be  part  of  time,  that  art  part  of  no  I 
day,  but  only  (as  they  say)  of  time  flowing  and  running  on,  with-  \ 

out  head  or  foot,  week  or  day !  ' 

Tltetii  71.     Tbey  tell  us,  that  "in  Joshua's  time,  when  tbe^i 

stood  still,  and  in  Hezekiab's  time,  when  Ibe  sun  went  back,  that 

there  was  as  great  a  perverting  of  the  order  of  time  as  this  cornea 

and  ibat  there  is  as  good  reason  to  alter  the  time  upon  such 

special  and  wonderful  occasion  as  Christ's  resurrection,  as  there 

to  disorder  the  course  of  time  then  ;"  but  the  weakness  of  this 

»er  may  appear  from  these  things :  — 

,  That  in  tbe  days  of  Joshua  and  llezekiah,  there  waa  no 
nonstroua,  misshapen  piece  of  time  cut  out,  as  here  is  imagined  ; 
4>r  though  the  sun  stood  still,  suppose  about  twelve  hours  in 
ihua's  time,  and  so  made  a  day  of  ihirly-six  hours,  yet  these 
hours  were  part  of  that  day,  and  of  that  which  ordinarily 
Uie  day,  viz.,  the  motion  of  the  sun  about  the  earth,  which 
ordinarily  once  in  twenty-four  hours,  only  the  Lord  stopped  it 
•  while,  and  so  made  it  a  longer  day,  and  yet  measured  by  ihu 
ordinary  measure  of  a  day,  viz.,  the  sun  comjiassing  the  earth ; 
which  this  night  is  noi. 
TOL.  m.  i\ 


I 

I 


I 

I 

I 


3.  Though  novae  part  of  Ihu  weekly  lime  wa.-<  changed  in  some 
respect,  jet  no  ])art  of  saert'd  nod  Kubbaili  time  was  perrBrted 
by  either  the  euii's  standing  still,  or  -its  going  hack,  because, 
though  these  things  were  longer  than  ordinary,  jet  they  were 
bat  ordinarj  days  in  this  sense,  viz.,  because  there  was  no  more 
to  either  daj  than  that  whicli  ordinarilj  makes  a  day.  to  wit,  that 
space  of  time  wherein  the  sun  circularly  compa^seth  the  whole 
«arth.  For  though  a  seventh  part  of  time  be  morally  due  to  God, 
man  having  sis  days  for  himself,  jet  this  is  to  be  understood  as 
€ach  day  is  measured  by,  and  made  up  of,  the  whole  complete 
tnolion  of  the  sun  eircltng  the  earth  :  now,  though  these  djijs  were 
longer  than  usual  in  those  famous  times,  yet  ihey  were  onlj  sueh 
days  as  were  made  by  this  motion ;  and  hence  there  was  no 
change  or  perverting  of  the  time  of  the  Sabbath,  but  God  hath 
bis  due  then  orderly.  But  here  we  must  make  a  new  and 
strange  beginning  of  time,  by  leaving  out  a  whole  night,  and 
denying  God  a  seventh  day,  according  to  ordinary  account  and 
reekoning,  and  must  fall  to  a  disorderly  beginning,  upon  pretense 
of  a  more  than  ordinary  occasion  i  which  yet  we  see  was  not  so 
in  those  cxtraorditiarj  timcti  of  Hezckiah  and  Joshua. 

3.  In  the  days  of  Joshua  and  Hezeiiah  there  was  some  neces- 
sity of  prolonging  those  days,  and  that  in  a  course  of  providence, 
supposing  that  God  would  work  wonders  bj  his  providence  ;  but 
what  necessity  is  there  to  begin  the  daj  when  Christ  did  first 
arise  ?  for  this  action  falling  out  upon  the  first  day,  might  sanc- 
tify the  whole  day,  which  in  ordinary  course  should  have  begun 
Rt  evening;  wo  see  the  whole  fifth  of  November  is  sanctified, 
upon  an  occasion  which  happened  about  nine  or  ten  of  the  clock  ; 
and  the  evening  of  the  passover  was  sanctified  before  the  angel 
passed  over  the  Isi-neUtes  at  midnight,  which  was  the  occasion  of 
tlie  sanctiScation  of  that  day :  what  need  or  necessity  was  there 
to  leave  a  whole  night  out  of  weekly  account,  and  lose  such  a 
part  of  precious  treasure  ? 

4.  It  was  for  the  manifestation  of  the  marvelous  glory  of  God 
in  the  eyes  of  all  the  world,  good  and  bad,^  make  that  violation 
(as  it  were)  of  the  course  of  time  in  the  days  of  Joshua  and  Hez- 
ekiah ;  but  what  glory  doth  Christ  gain  in  the  eyes  of  others,  by 
making  the  day  to  begin  at  the  time  of  his  resurrection  by  the 
loss  of  the  whole  evening  before  out  of  the  account  of  weekly 
lime  ?  Or  what  glory  doth  Christ  lose  if  he  should  begin  the 
day  at  evening  when  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ended,  wlienas  the 
whole  day  thus  is  celebrated  and  sancti^ed  for  his  glory  in  re- 
spect of  his  resurrection  upon  this  day  ?     And  therefore  it  is  : 


I 


imagine  as  mncli  reason  for  ihe  violalion  of  the 
of  lime  in  respucl  of  Ghriel's  resurrection  (which  makes  so 
little  for  the  glory  of  Christ)  as  there  was  tor  the  Tariation  of 
time  in  the  days  of  Joshua  and  Hezekiah,  which  made  so  ajipoT' 
ently,  and  evidently,  and  exceedingly  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
Ibe  honor  of  (hose  who  were  types  of  Chvist, 

TAeii*  72.  To  say  that  ibere  b  a.  necessity  of  begiDoing  the 
Chrbtian  Sabbath  when  Christ  first  entered  into  bis  rest,  (the 
&st  moment  of  his  resurrection,)  because  the  Father  began  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  the  first  moment  of  bis  rest  after  his  six  days' 
labor,  is  not  solid  nor  sound ;  for  there  was  a  necessity  for  &>d 
the  Father  to  begin  his  rest  at  the  end  of  his  work ;  otherwise  a 
moral  rule  had  not  been  observed,  viz.,  that  a  seventh  part  of 
time  be  sanctified ;  for  six  days  being  finished  in  creating  the 
world,  there  was  now  a  necessity  of  sanctifying  the  seventh  day 
wherein  his  rest  began,  test  a  moral  rule  should  be  exempUrily 
broken ;  but  there  was  no  such  necessity  here ;  for  the  whole 
evening  of  the  first  day  may  be  aanctitied  upon  occasion  of 
Christ's  rest  on  some  piirt  of  that  day,  and  no  moral  rule  broken 
hereby ;  nay,  there  hod  been  a  moral  rule  broken  if  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath  hud  not  begun  upon  this  evening ;  because  hereby 
God  should  have  lost  a  Sabbath  day  within  the  compass  of  s< 
days  as  (bey  are  measured  by  the  sun ;  and  this  is  directly  c 
to  the  morality  of  tlie  fourth  command ;  for  if  a  whole  ni^ht  bu 
loot,  (as  these  men  reckon,)  only  time  flows  on,  (they  say,)  liien 
it  must  be  full  seven  days  and  a  half  before  God  have  a  Sabbath 
to  begin ;  and  this  absurdity  in  the  course  of  time,  I  believe,  will 
BM  be  found  in  Joshua's  time,  nor  in  altering  the  begiiming  of 
the  year  in  Moses'  time,  (Ex.  xii.,)  for  no  moral  rule  was  ia- 
trenebed  upon  by  these  and  such  like  alterations. 

TAetit  73.  It  is  an  ungrounded  assertion  lo  say  that  the  ren- 
ts of  the  change  of  the  day  are  the  same  for  the  cliange  of  Ihe 
beginning  of  the  day ;  for,  1.  There  was  a  type  atGxed  (as  hath 
been  shown)  to  that  Jewish  Sabbath ;  but  I  never  yet  heard  of 
luiy  type  in  respect  of  the  beginning  of  ihe  Sabbath.  2.  Divine 
will  and  inslitution  changed  the  day,  and  that  according  to  a 
mond  rule,  vii.,  that  God  hath  one  day  in  seven  given  him ;  but 
God  could  not  begin  the  Sabbath  with  excluding  the  evening  be- 
fore Christ  arose  without  breach  of  this  rule,  as  hath  been  shown. 
The  day  might  be  kept  and  changed  without  breach  of  that  rule, 
but  the  beginning  could  not  be  changed  but  there  would  necessa- 
rily follow  some  breach  thereof. 

7%t$iM  74.     To  think  that  the  Sabbath  must  needs  begin  in 
the  morning,  because  we  read  not  expressly  after  Christ's  resuiv 


I 


rection,  that  the  niglit  Bhould  belong  to  llie  ilaj  following,  nor  is 
there  any  instance  thereof  as  in  rhe  Old  Tegiament,  and  before 
Christ's  resurrection,  it  ma^  be  (thej  confees)  undeniably  so 
found,  —  I  say,  lo  think  the  Sabbath  must  begin  in  the  morning, 
upon  this  ground,  is  somewhat  like  u>  his  conceit,  who  findinv  in 
the  Old  Testament  that  ihe  seventh  day  is  to  be  sanctified,  but 
rol  finding  this  expresBion,  after  Christ's  resurrection,  hence  ho 
thought  there  was  now  no  seventh  day  to  be  sanctiBed.  Those 
who  can  answer  this  objection  may  kDow  how  to  answer  thereby 
their  own  argument  for  ihe  bcguming  of  it  at  momitig,  which  is 
just  like  unto  it;  if  indeed  there  were  clear  scriptures  for  the 
beginning  of  it  at  morning  in  the  New  Testament,  and  none  lo 
show  the  beginning  of  it  at  evening,  the  argument  had  much 
weight ;  but  this  hath  not  yet  appeared.  Old  Testament  evi- 
dences are  not  apocrypha  proofs  in  moral  matters  in  these  men's 
consciences  who  thus  argue  for  ilie  morniug. 

Tlieiit  75.  To  argue  the  beginnirig  of  the  Sabbath  at  morn- 
ing, from  ihe  congruity  and  fitness  of  the  season  for  holy  time 
rather  than  evening,  is  no  way  fair  or  rational ;  for,  1.  There 
may  be  aa  much  aaid  (perhaps  more)  for  the  fitness  and  congru- 
ity of  the  evening,  if  this  arguing  were  evicting  ;  but  we  know 
the  ground  of  all  superstition  hath  been  human  wisdom,  which 
puts  out  the  eagle's  eyes  when  it  goes  about  to  mend  them  ;  and 
when  it  would  better  God's  worship  by  goodly  seemiiigs  and  trap- 
pings, it  then  destroys  it,  at  least  corrupts  it ;  this  only  may  be 
said,  that  just  ns-we  lie  down  with  our  hearts  over  night,  so  we 
find  ihem  commonly  in  the  morning  ;  the  beginning  of  the  Sab- 
bath at  evening  will  force  us  in  conscience  lo  lie  down  over  night 
with  Sabbath  hearts,  which  marveloualy  prepares  for  the  receiv- 
ing of  Sabbath  blessings  the  day  ensuing. 

Thai*  76.  If,  therefore,  the  Sabbath  doih  not  begin,  neither 
according  to  the  custom  of  civil  nations,  nor  at  midnight,  nor 
morning,  what  time,  then,  must  it  begin  at  (from  any  color 
y  of  Scripture)  but  only  in  the  evening?  At  eveuing,  therefore, 
afYer  the  settmg  of  the  light  of  the  body  of  the  sun,  wherein  dark- 
ness begins  to  be  predominant  over  the  light,  the  Sabbath  begins 
now,  as  the  Jewish  Subballi  began  in  former  times ;  and  hero  let 
me  say  that  Old  Testament  proofs  may  be  in  this,  as  in  many. 
other  tilings.  New  Testamcat  rules. 

7Xe»i»  77.     If  the  Jewish  Sabbath  did  begin  and  end  at 
ing,  which  was   the  Inst  day  of  the  week,  then    the  Cli 
Sabbath  iho  first  day  of  the  week,  which  immediately  succeeds 
the  last,  is  to  begin  at  evening  also;  if  the  Sabbath  in  the  first 
institution    began    at  evening,  why    should   not    the   Christian 


I 


I 


245 

Sabbath  be  conformed  m  near  as  may  be  lo  tlie  first  institution  ? 
But  we  see,  oul  of  Gt;a.  i^  that,  as  all  otiicr  days  began  at 
the  evening  or  dark  night,  so  it  was  not  orderly  or  possiblii,  ac- 
cording to  the  moral  rule  God  acted  by,  that  the  Sabbath  should 
begin  upon  any  other  time  than  the  evening ;  nor  is  it  improbftbia 
but  that  Ezeluel  foretells  this,  that  in  the  Chrislian  cliurch,  as 
the  g»Ie  for  the  Sabbath  should  not  be  shut  until  the  evening, 
(Ezek.  ilvi.  1,  2,)  80,  bj  just  proportion,  the  time  for  opening 
of  it  was  the  evening  before,  when  the  Subboth  began. 

TTifiit  78.     Now,  although  some  deny  the  beginning  of  the 
Sabbath  in  Gen.  i.  to  be  in  the  evening,  (deceiving  themselves 
and  their  readers  with  the  ambiguity  and  various  acceptation  of 
the  words  evening  and  morning,)  yet  this  is  moat  evident,  that 
the  lirst  day  begun  with  night,  or  darkness,  which  is  called  night, 
(Gen.  i.  i,  5,)  and  consequently  ended  with  daylight ;   let  even- 
ing and  morning,  therefore,  be  taken    how  they  will,  yet  it  is 
suflicient  to  prove  that  which  we  aim  al,  viz.,  that  as  the  first 
day  began  with  night,  and  ended  at  the  end  of  daylight,  so  by 
just  consequence  every  other  day  did,  even  the  Sabbath  itself, 
which  still  begins  the  beginning  of  night,  whii^  is  all  that  which 
we  mean  by  evening  when  we  say  that  it  begins  then ;  which 
also  the  Holy  Ghost  calls  darkness,  which  darkness  (Gen.  i.  2) 
J^^  calls  night,  (ver.  5,)  and  which  night  is  all  one  with  evening. 
J^     7%en(  79.     And  if  the  natural  (which  some  call  civil,  others 
pthe  compound)  day  began  fir«t  in  the  evening,  then  surely  it  oon- 
'''^naed  so;  or,  if  not,  then  this  disorderly  practice  should  have 
been  regnlated  again,  according  to  the  tin-l  pattern,  as  the  abuses 
cr«pt  into  the  Lord's  supper  were  by  Paul,  (1  Cor.  xi.  23,)  and 
as  errors  about  marriage  were  by  our  Saviour,  telling  them  that 

7S«if  80.     Nor  should  it  bo  a  wonder  why  the  wise  Creator 
should  begin  time^with  darkness,  or  the  less  noble  part  of  the  j 
day,  no  more  tlian  why^e  Lord  should   begin  the  world  w'  ' 
rude  and  confused  chaos  before  a  glorious  world ;  tlie  progreu 
of  his  wisdom  in  making  the  whole  world  being  for  the  most  pitrt  I 
from  more  imi>erfect  things  to  perfect,  from  the  chaos  to  beauty,  I 
from  the  servants  and  furniture  to  man,  the  lord  and  master  of  ' 
ibis  great  house ;  and  so  here,  from  darkness  to  light :  the  Sah- 
buih  also  being  a  day  of  rest,  was  it  not  most  proper  to  begin  it 
tlien,  when  man  begins  his  rest,  which  is  the  night  ?  when  also 
God  began  rest  from  his  work  in  the  first  creation. 

TfitMit  81.     Some  conceive  by  the  evidence  of  the  text  thai  ^  1 
darknoaa  was  before  light,  yet  wrestle  with  their  wits  to  make  it  \  \ 
21  • 


)f  the  y' 
*ith  a  ^ 


THK   BIC[>tN'>'IH<.i 

neither  part  of  the  night  nor  part  of  lime,  but  onlj  punelum  ttm- 
X^     jiorit,  and  by  this  shifl  would  make  the  first  day  to  begin  in  the 

■  Thesis  82.  Bat  was  ever  any  punetitm  lemportt  (which  is 
•J  thought  to  be  no  part  of  tirae)  called  by  the  name  of  night,  as 
this  darkness  is?  (Gen.  i.  4,  5,  with  ii.)  Was  ihe  world  made 
ill  six  days,  and  is  there  a  heaven  and  eurlh  made  within  the 
time  of  this  darkness,  aiid  yet  this  time  of  darkness  to  be  no  part 

I  of  lime,  but  only  a  mathematical  point,  but  no  real  part  of  suc- 
ceeding time.?  Zanchy  long  since  haih  largely  confuted  and 
ivushed  this  egg  shell,  where  the  reader  may  look ;  there  was 
not  indeed  any  celestial  motion  of  the  heavens  to  measare  this 
lime  by.  (for  Master  Weeraea  olijecte.  fempiu  rit  niertsura  mohu.) 
but  by  tbis  argument  there  was  no  time  till  the  fourth  day,  when 
the  sun  and  stars  were  created,  nor  is  time  properly  mentura  mo- 
J^  tug,  but  as  eternity  is  the  indeierroinale  duration  of  a  iking  to- 
gether, so  lime  is  the  determinate  duration  of  things  by  succes- 
sion 1  which  was  evidently  since  time  began  on  the  Hi's!  moment 
of  creation. 

Them  83.  Others,  who  acknowledge  this  first  darkness  to  be 
part  of  time,  yet  will  not  have  it  lo  be  part  of  the  nighttime, 
y  be(»use  light,  (the  habit,}  they  say,niust  go  before  darkness,  (the 
privation,)  liecause  also  liiis  first  darknesa  is  not  so  called  night, 
but  the  separated  darkness,  (Gen.  i.  S,)  when  God  separated  the 
light  into  one  hemisphere,  and  darkness  into  another. 

Thent  64.  But  this  arguing  is  almost  against  the  expreea  let- 
ter of  the  text,  (Gen.  i.,)  wherein  it  is  muai  evident  that  light 
was  created  alter  darkness  hod  been  some  lime  upon  ihe 
V  face  of  the  deep ;  which  darkness  can  not  be  part  of  the  day- 
light, no  more  than  blindness  is  a  pan  of  siglil,  and  therefore  is 
a  part  of  the  night,  before  this  conceived  separated  darkness 
could  cxisi.  Beside,  the  separation  of  darkness  fmm  light  doth 
not  make  any  new  darkness  which  is  a  new  denomiiialed  dark- 
ness, but  is  the  same  darkness  which  was  at  first,  only  the  sepa- 
ration is  a  new  placing  of  it,  but  it  gives  no  new  being  to  it. 
t  Tketig  85.  Suppose  also  that  light  and  darkness  ore  contra- 
rto  privanlia  ;  yet  it  is  not  true,  cither  in  philosophy  or  divinity, 
I  that  the  tiabit  must  always  actually  go  before  the  privation  in  die 
'  Mme  subject ;  for  the  privation  may  be  first  it'  it  be  in  tubjeeto  ca- 

£tei;  i.  e.,  in  a  subject  capable  of  Ihe  habit ;  for  silence  maybe 
fore  speech  in  a  man,  and  blindness  and  deafness  in  a.  man  who 
never  saw  nor  heard  a  word,  because  man  is  a  subject  capable 
,  of  both  }  and  so  here  durkneris  might  be  belbre  light,  because  this 
p.Mdi|j«ct  of  the  lirst  matter  was  capable  of  bottv 


OF  THE    SABBATH. 


^H  Thau  86.  Kor  U  it  true  in  divinity  that  the  darknegs  and 
^^■l^ht  were  at  flrst  separated  into  two  hemispheres ;  or  if  they 
^^B  were,  yet  what  orthodox  writer  aDinns  that  the  supposed  gepa- 
^K-nted  darkness  only  is  called  night  ? 

^^M      TVm  K7.     For  look,  as    the  darkne«!i   did  OTerspread   the 
^P  whole  cbaoe  and  all  the  dimensions  of  il  at  llie  same  lime,  why 
night  not  the  light,  the  habit,  be  extended  ae  far  aa  was  the  pri- 
vation before,  and  iliiit  at  the  same  time?  there  being  no  globe, 
or  denoe  body  of  earth  and  water,  (existing  ud  now  ihey  do,)  at 
that  time  created,  and  consei^uently  no  opaijue  and  solid  body  to 
divide  between  light  and  darkness,  and  go  to  separate  them  into 
two  hemispheres,  as  by  this  means  it  is  at  this  day,  unless  we  im- 
agine miracles  without  necessity,  and  thai  God  then  miraculously 
did  it  when  there  was  no  necessity  of  it.     For  the  element  of 
fire  being  figuratively  called  light,  it  being  (as  Junius  shows) 
proprietai  etteHiialii  iffiiii,  being  also  created  in  the  superior 
pert  of  the  vast  chaos,  might  therefore  be  cast  down  by  a  mighty 
hand  of  God  (there  being  no  ordinary  means  of  sun  or  stars  yet 
craalcd  to  do  il)  into  all  the  inferior  chaos,  and  so  make  day. 
JLnd  tlie  ascending  of  this  light  upward  again  might  make  it  to  be 
night ;  and  therefore,  although  God  separated  between  light  and     . 
I  4ukness,  yet  this  sepiiration  seems  to  be  rather  in  respect  of  time )( 
^'Aan  in  respect  of  place,  or  two  hemispheres ;  for  the  light,  when 
■^  WHS  cast  down,  sepamled  and  scattered  the  darkness,  and  so  j 
eluded  it,  so  that  when  there  was  light,  there  was  no  dai-kness ;  I 
1  darkness,  there  was  no  ligiht;  and  thus  they  succeeding 
excluding  one  another,  the  Lord  is  said  to  separate  them  one 
rftou  anuthtr.  but  not  into  two  imagined  hemispheres,  by  which 
r  tauginaiion  of  two  hemispheres  it  will  be  also  very  difficult  lo  set  / 
down  when  it  was  day  and  when  it  was  night,  at  this  time  of  theX 
cmuion ;  because,  in  respect  of  one  part  of  the  chaos,  it  might 
be  called  day,  in  respect  of  the  other  hemisphere  of  the  chaos  it 
miglil  be  called  night;  and  therefore  it  seems  more  suitable  to 
the  truth  that  the  descending  of  the  light  mode  day  throughout  tlie   j 
whole  chaos  remaining,  and  the  ascending  of  it  to  its  proper  place  / 
•uccessively  made  night ;  which  as  it  answers  many  curious  ques-  / 
lions  about  the  nature  and  motion  of  this  light,  so  it  yields  a 
more  than  probable  argument,  that,  if  the  daylight  continued 
twelve  hours,  (which  none  tjueslion,)  why  should  not  each  night 
continue  as  long?    and   therefore   that   the  lirst  darkness  did 
continue  »uch  a  time  before  the  creation  of  the  light. 

7%Mi'i  88.  But  suppose  this  local  separation  into  two  hemi- 
spheres was  granted,  yet  it  will  not  follow'frora  hence  that  this 
MpMntod  durkoM*  only  ia  oMwA  night,  and  ibai  lb*  darkowu 


I 


248 


i    OV   Tills  a.VBBATlI. 


I 
I 


before  waa  no  part  of  it ;  for  if  the  day  and  night  began  at  the 
imagiBeJ  division  of  light  and  (Urknesa,  ihcn  (this  division  being 
in  an  insloot  of  time)  neither  could  the  duy  be  before  the  night, 
nor  the  tligltt  before  ilie  dny.  but  both  exist  and  begin  logetlicr; 
and  then  it  will  follow  that  the  Iwginning  of  the  first  day  was 
neither  in  the  morning  nor  evening,  in  darkness  nor  light,  in 
night  nor  day ;  but  tliat  it  began  in  the  morning  and  evening, 
daylight  and  dark  night,  together ;  which  is  too  gross  for  any 
wise  man  to  afltrni,  nor  would  the  God  of  order  do  it.  Agitin  : 
if  the  first  darkness,  which  was  preexislent  to  this  hemispherical 
light  and  darkness,  wae  no  part  of  the  niglil,  then  much  less  wdb 
it  any  part  of  the  first  daylight,  and  so  no  part  of  the  natural 
day ;  which  if  any  should  alGrm,  they  must  deny  the  creation  of 
tlie  world  in  six  day^ ;  for  it  is  evident  that  the  heavens  and 
earth  were  made  in  the  time  of  the  first  darkness. 

Thetit  89.  To  say  tliat  this  first  darkness  was  part  of  the 
morning,  and  did  belong  to  the  morning  light,  as  now  some  time  of 
darkness  in  the  morning  is  called  morning,  and  therefore  is  called 
the  womb  of  the  morning,  (Ps.  ex.  i.)  is  a  mere  shift  to  prove 
the  beginning  of  time  to  be  in  the  morning,  and  an  evasion  from 
the  evidence  of  truth.  For,  1.  This  first  darkness  must  either 
be  the  whole  night,  consisting,  as  the  light  did,  of  about  twelve 
hours,  and  then  it  can  not  possibly  be  called  morning,  or  belong 
thereunto  ;  or  it  must  be  part  of  the  night,  and  that  which  came 
after  the  light  another  part  of  it,  and  then  we  may  see  a  monstrous 
day,  which  hath  part  of  its  night  before  it,  and  part  aller  it ;  be- 
side,  it  ia  contrary  to  the  text,  which  makes  the  whole  morning 
togetlier,  and  the  whole  evening  together,  the  whole  daylight 
jogether,  and  so  the  whole  night  together.  2.  That  darkness 
which  by  an  improper  speech  wu  make  to  belong  to  the  morning, 
in  oiu'  ordinary  account,  is  the  latter  part  of  the  night,  or  of  the 
darkness ;  but  we  read  not  in  all  the  Scripture,  nor  is  It  suitable 
to  any  solid  reason,  to  make  the  first  beginning  uf  night  or  dark- 
ness as  [lart  of  the  morning.  Now,  this  firat  darkness  (wbieli  is 
the  beginning  of  darkness)  is  called  night,  at  least  is  the  be^n- 
ning  of  night,  and  therefore  can  not  be  called  morning,  but  even* 
ing  rather,  as  we  usually  cidl  the  first  beginning  of  darkness 
after  daylight. 

T&etis  'M.  That  express  commandment  {Lev,  xxiii.  32) 
to  celebrate  the  ceremonial  Sabbath  from  even  to  even,  doth 
strongly  prove  the  beginning  of  the  moral  Sabbath  at  the  some 
time  ;  for  why  else  is  it  called  a  Sabbath  of  resl^  but  because  it 
be  spent  in  duties  of  humiliation,  as  the  other  Sabbath  in  ' 
I  suitable  to  the  nature  of  it?  and  hence  the  Lord's  care  is 


!N1NG    OF   THE 


I 

^■nallj  esact  herein,  1.  Tbat  no  servile  work  be  done,  because 
^H  h  a  Subbatli,  (ver.  31,  32;)  2.  Tbat  it  be  spent  and  saiicti- 
^^Sed  from  even  to  even,  (meaning,)  like  as  you  do  your  weekly 
Sftbbailis.  And  bonce  the  Lord  eaith  not,  Vou  sball  celebrate 
your  d*y  of  atonement  front  even  to  even,  but  (the  Lord  usually 
nrappino:  up  argument  in  bis  words)  your  Sa&balh  ;  as  if  he 
should  iay.  You  would  account  it  a  profane  lliiog  not  to  celebrate 
your  ordinarj  weekly  Subbath  from  even  to  even,  or  to  do  any 
servile  work  on  iliat  day  ;  tbia  day  Is  a  Sabbalb,  and  tlierefora 
you  must  sanctify  it  from  even  to  even,  and  therefore  do  no'  ser- 
vile work  herein. 

TTiftii  91,  To  imagine  (as  some  do)  that  "  the  ordinary  Sab- 
Iwib  began  at  another  time,  because  here  God  makes  a  new 
command,  that  it  be  from  even  to  even,  in  oppositiou  to  the  other 
Sabbaths  beginning,  and  that  otherwise  it  had  been  enough  to 
eay,  Vou  shall  celebrate  this  day  as  a  Sabbath ; "  one  may  Irom 
the  same  ground  imagine  ilmt  in  other  Sabbaths  they  might  do 
any  servile  work,  because  here  also  they  are  forbidden  it ;  for  it 
may  be  as  well  siud,  that  otherwise  it  hud  been  enough  to  say, 
You  shall  sanctify  this  day  as  you  do  other  Sabbaths :  here, 
iherefore.  is  no  new  institution  of  time  from  the  begitming  of  the 
Sabbath,  but  of  »  new  ordinance,  together  with  the  application 
of  time  according  to  common  and  ordinary  account ;  and  the 
Lord  expresseib  from  even  to  even,  (wbicli  makes  up  a  natui^ 
d»y,)  lest  man's  heart  (which  is  soon  weary  of  duties  of  humilia- 
tion) should  intepret  it  of  an  artificial  (^y,  to  prevent  which 
mi«take  the  Lord  had  good  reason  to  set  the  distinct  bounds  of  it 
from  even  to  even. 

?%MM  92.  Jtor  can  this  evening  be  fairly  interpreted  of  the 
former  even  before  sunset,  as  taking  in  Uiat  also :  for  this  even* 
ing  is  to  begin  at  the  evening  of  the  ninth  day,  (ver.  S2,)  which 
evening  of  the  ninth  day  is  not  the  evening  of  that  day  aboat 
two  or  three  of  the  clock,  —  for  the  tenth  day  only  is  called  the 
day  of  atonement,  (ver.  27,)  and  therefore  part  of  the  ninth  day 
is  tio  part  of  the  atonement  dny,  —  but,  as  Junius  well  expounds 
it,  at  the  evening  of  the  ninth  day,  pula  ijua  nonat  dtei  tUjuiit,  at 
that  nick  of  lime,  which  is  the  contmurtit  terminal  of  the  end  of 
the  ninth  day  and  beginning  of  the  tenth,  you  shall  then  cele- 
brate your  SiU>bath ;  which  curious  exactness  of  the  Lord  is 
partly  to  express  his  zeal  for  the  full  and  plenary  observation 
of  the  day,  that  he  may  not  lose  a  moment's  time  of  honor,  as 
also  to  show  what  care  iliey  should  have  of  holding  out  from  tlio 
Arst  iKiiiit  to  the  last  period  of  that  Sabbath. 

7awi«  93.     And  therefore  it  is  a  groundless  deduction  from 


I 
I 


the  text  to  make  thia  day  to  be  of  extiTiordiniu-y  Itnglli,  and  bo 
an  unfit  measure  for  our  ordinary  Subbarh.  And  to  euy  tbat 
there  was  a  ceremony  in  beginning  ihis  day  ut  cvrn  is  hut  ffriUit 
dt'elwn,  and  can  never  be  made  good,  unless  ii  be  by  gucU  t'elcbes 
of  wit  whicrh  can  mold  ihu  pLiinest  history  into  iha  unage  of  ft 
goodly  allegory,  a  most  impudent  (."oursc  <i(  ur;;uin};,  in  Austin's 
judgment  and  in  bis  lime. 

79iesii  94.  If  the  Sabbath  do  not  begin  itt  evening,  why  did 
Kehemioh  (an  exemplary  magistrate)  command  the  gates  to  be 
shut,  when  the  gales  of  Jerusalem  began  lo  he  dark  before  the 
Sabbath?  (Neh.  xiii.  19.)  Was  it  not  lust  the  Sabbath  should 
be  profaned  [liat  night  by  bringmg  in  of  wares  nnd  burdens 
through  the  gates,  us  nell  ab  in  the  ensuing  dity  ?  Is  it  not  ex- 
pressly said  that  he  set  his  servants  fit  these  gates  that  there 
might  be  no  burden  brought  ia  upon  the  Sabbath  dny?  Is  it  not 
expressly  said  that  he  set  the  Levites  to  keep  the  gates  to  sanc- 
tify the  Sabbath  day?  (ver.  19,  22.)  Now,  if  ibis  evening  was 
no  part  of  the  Sahbalh,  how  could  tbey  then  ho  said  to  saucttfy 
the  Sabbath  thereby  'f 

Tlietii  95.  To  imagine  that  Nchemiah  did  this  to  prevent 
the  profaning  of  the  Sabbath  day  after,  ia  as  if  a  man  should 
shut  his  doors  at  noon  against  such  thieves  as  he  knows  will  not 
come  to  hurt  him  until  midnight  be  past.  It  would  be  weakness 
in  a  magistrate  to  Lake  away  any  considerable  part  of  the  week 
which  God  allows  for  labor,  to  prevent  [hut  evU  on  [he  Sabbaih 
which  he  knows  he  ie  suliiciently  able  to  prevent  at  the  approach 
of  ihe  day  itself;  for  Nehemiah  might  easily  have  shut  the  galea 
in  the  morning,  if  the  Sabbath  had  not  begun  before ;  and  might 
have  better  done  it  than  to  cut  so  large  a  thong  out  of  the  week 
time  lo  prevent  sueh  dehlement  of  the  Sabba[h  day. 

Hittit  9G.  When  therefore  the  gates  of  Jerusalem  began  to 
be  dark,  or,  as  Junius  renders  the  words,  qtium  abtimbrartntia- 
porta,  i.  e.,  when  they  were  shadowed  by  the  descent  of  the  sun 
behind  the  mountains  which  compassed  Jerusalem,  and  so  did 
cast  a  shadow  of  darkness  upou  the  gates  of  the  city,  Komcwhut 
sooner  than  in  other  places  le.'^  mountainous,  this  shadow,  being 
no  part  of  the  dark  night,  is  truly  said  10  be  before,  or  (as  the 
Hebrew  is)  before  the  face  or  looking  out  of  the  Sabbath  i  for 
although  the  Sabbaih  be  said  to  begin  at  sunset,  yet  it  is  to  be 
understood  not  of  the  setting  of  the  body  of  the  sun  visibly, 
but  of  the  light  of  the  sun  when  darkness  begins  to  be  predotn- 
ir  the  light,  and  men  are  forced  lo  forsake  their  work : 
now,  just  before  iliis  Nehemiah  shut  the  gales,  at  the  common 
term  and  end  of  the  six  days'  labor,  and  the  seventh  day'i 


I  THE    BEU]^NI^ti    Of    T 

»esl :  and  ihererore  it  is  a  weak  objeclion  which  some  mak«,  to 
My  that  this  evening  vas  noi  part  of  the  Sabliath,  because  the 
•gues  are  said  to  be  shut  before  the  Sabbath. 
TTtesii  97.  It  is  said  the  women  who  prepared  spices  for 
bur  Saviour's  bodj,  that  the;  rested  the  Sablmth,  which  is  evi- 
^n(  to  b«  in  th«  evening ;  and  this  they  did  not  superstitiousljr, 
Cu  some  say,)  but  according  [o  the  commandment.  (Lnlce  xxiiL 
63-56.)  If,  Uierefbre,  these  women  began  to  rest,  ai.'cording  to 
tiie  commandment  of  God,  upon  the  evening,  then  the  evening, 
lly  the  same  commandment,  is  the  beginning  of  the  holy  rest  of 
the  Sabbath.  It  is  not  only  the  commandment  of  God  that  one 
day  in  seven  be  sanctilied,  but  also  that  it  be  siinctilied  from  even 


I  the  evening,  ia 


T/ittit  08.     Now  that  they  began  t< 

»  evident  from  lliese  considemlions  ;  — 
1.  That  our  Saviour  died  the  ninth  hour,  (Luke  xxiii.  44,  46,) 
vhich  was  about  three  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon.  A  little 
after  this,  Joseph  begs  his  body,  and  takes  it  down,  because  it  was 
w^aaSSaiof,  or  preparation  for  the  Sabhalb,  (Mark  v.  42,)  in 
which  prejiaralion  il  is  said  that  the  Sabbath  did  entifuoni,  an.w 
on,  shine  forth,  (Luke  xxiii.  34:)  now,  this  shining  or  breaking 
jarlh  of  the  SMbbalh  can  not  be  meant  of  the  daylight  morning 
■hilling  forth  ;  for  it  is  a  mere  dream  to  think  tliat  Joseph  should 
be  so  long  a  time  in  doing  so  little  work,  from  Saturday  in  the 
nflrimDon  until  the  next  morning  hght  only  in  taking  of  Christ 
from  the  cross,  wrapping  him  in  linen,  and  laying  him  in  his  own 
■epulcher,  which  was  not  far  off,  but  near  at  hand  also.  (John 
xix.  ii.)  The  shining  forth  of  the  Sabbath  also  stopped  the 
women  from  proceeding  to  anoint  Christ's  body,  after  they  had 
brought  their  spiced ;  and  therefore,  if  the  shining  forth  of  the  Sab- 
bath bad  been  the  morning  after,  they  might  certainly  have  had 
•ufflcient  lime  todoihat  work  in  ;  the  shining  fortli  therefore  of  the 
Sftbbath  was  in  the  latter  evening  in  which  the  Sabbath  began  ; 
•nd  it  ia  said  to  shine  forth  by  a  metaphor,  because  it  did  then 
flmt  ^^lear,  or  draw  on  ;  or,  as  Piscnlor  and  sundry  others  think,' 
becwwe  about  that  time  the  stars  in  heaven,  and  the  lamps  and 
nndlec  in  houses,  began  to  shine  forth ;  which  if  just  then  when 

IdnrkneM  is  predominant,  whiuh  ia  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbalb 
at  evening  lime. 
i.  If  that  evening  had  not  begun  the  Sabbath,  why  did  not  ths 
women  (who  wanted  neither  conscience,  nor  affection,  nor  oppor- 
tunity) anoint  his  body  that  evening,  but  defer  il  until  the  night 
■ft«r  ?  What  could  stop  tliem  bcri-in,  but  only  tlie  conscicDCe 
«r  the  commandment  which  bvgan  the  Sabbath  Ihut  evening? 


i 


I 
j 


I 
I 


tii  TDK   BEGINNING    OK  TilE   SABBATH. 

3.  Either  the  Sabbath  must  begin  thie  evening,  or  they  did  not 
rest  the  Sabbath  according  to  the  coaimandment ;  for  if  ibey 
began  to  keep  the  Sabbath  at  morning  Uglit,  ihen,  if  they  rested 
according  to  the  command  men  I,  Uiey  must  keep  it  until  the  morn- 
ing light  after ;  but  it  ia  manifest  that  Ihey  were  stirring,  and  in 
preparing  their  ointments  long  before  that,  even  in  the  dark  nigbt 
before  the  light  did  appear,  as  haih  been  formerly  sho^vn. 

Thetii  89.  Why  the  women  did  not  go  ^out  to  embalm 
Christ's  body  the  beginning  of  the  dnrk  CTcning  after  the  Sab- 
bath was  past,  but  staid  so  long  a  time  after  till  the  dark  morn- 
ing, can  not  be  eertainly  determined :  perhaps  they  thought  it  not 
suitable  to  a  rule  of  Grod  and  prudence  to  take  some  rest  and  sleep 
first,  before  they  went  about  the  ssuA  work,  and  might  think  the 
morning  more  tit  for  it  than  the  dark  evening  before,  when  their 
sorrowful  hearts  and  spent  spirits  might  need  mercy  lo  be  shown 
them,  by  taking  their  rest  a  while  first.  They  might  also  possi- 
bly think  it  offensive  to  others  presently  to  rim  lo  the  embalm- 
ing of  the  dead,  aa  soon  as  ever  the  Sabbath  was  ended,  and 
therefore  staid  till  the  dark  moruitig,  when  usually  every  one 
was  preparing  and  stirring  toward  their  weekly  work. 

Thtti*  100.  The  Lord  Christ  could  not  \\»  three  days  in  the 
grave,  if  the  Sabbath  did  not  begin  at  evening;  and  for  any  to 
athrm  that  the  dark  morning  wherein  he  arose  was  part  of  this 
first  day,  and  did  belong  thereunto,  is  not  only  to  overthrow  their 
own  principles,  who  begin  (he  Sabbath  at  the  beginning  of  day- 
light morning,  but  they  also  make  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath 
It)  be  wholly  uncertain ;  for  who  can  tell  at  what  time  of  this 
dark  morning  our  Saviour  arose? 

Thttii  101.  It  is  true  there  are  some  parts  of  the  habitable 
world,  in  Kussia,  and  those  northern  countries,  wherein  for  about 
a  month's  time  the  sun  is  never  out  of  sight :  now,  although  they 
have  no  dark  evening  at  this  time,  yet  doubtless  they  know  how 
to  measure  their  natural  days  by  the  motion  of  the  sun  ;  if,  there- 
fore, they  observe  that  time  which  is  equivalent  to  our  dark  even- 
ings, and  sanctify  to  God  the  space  of  a  day,  ns  it  is  measured 
by  the  circling  sun  round  about  them,  they  may  then  be  said  to 
sanctify  the  Sabbath  from  even  to  even,  if  they  do  that  which  is 
equivalent  thereunto ;  they  that  know  the  east,  west,  south, 
north  points,  do  certainly  know  when  that  which  is  equiv- 
alent lo  evening  begins,  which  if  they  could  not  do.  yet  doubtless 
God  would  accept  their  will  for  the  deed  in  such  a  case. 

Jlient  102.  If,  therefore,  the  Sabbath  began  at  evening  from 
Adam's  time  in  innocency  till  Nehemiah's  time,  and  from  Nehe- 
miah's  time  till  Christ's  lime,  why  should  any  Ihink  but  that 


THE  BEGINNING    OF   TUE   SABBATH. 


253 


where  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  the  Uist  day  of  the  week,  doth  end, 
there  the  Christian  Sabbath,  the  first  day  of  the  week,  begins  ? 
Unless  any  can  imagine  some  type  in  the  beginning  of  the  Sab- 
bath at  evening ;  which  must  change  the  beginning  of  the  day, 
as  the  type  affixed  did  change  the  day ;  or  can  give  demonstra- 
tive reasons  that  the  time  of  Christ's  resurrection  must  of  neces* 
sity  be^n  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which  for  aught  I  see  can  not 
be  done.  And  therefore  it  is  a  groundless  assertion  that  **  the 
reasons  of  the  change  of  the  day  are  the  same  for  the  change  of 
the  beginning  of  it ;  and  that  the  chief  of  the  reasons  for  the  even- 
ing may  be  as  well  applied  against  the  change  of  the  day  itself, 
as  of  the  time  of  it  jBut  sufficient  hath  been  said  of  this.  I 
shall,  only  add  this,  that  there  is  no  truth  of  Christ's,  but,  upon 
narrow  search  into  it,  hath  some  secret  knots  and  difficulties,  and 
so  hath  this  about  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath ;  it  is  there&re 
humility  and  self-denial  to  follow  our  clearest  light  in  the  simpli- 
city of  our  hearts,  and'  to  wait  upon  the  throne  of  grace  with 
many  tears  for  more  clear  discoveries  until  all  knots  be  unloosed. 
YOL.  ui.  22 


SANCTIFICATION  OF  THE  SABBATH. 


I 


K         aUChr 
■  Tket 


Thfiit  1.  The  won!  Sahbnth  properly  signifies,  not  commoir, 
but  mcTtd  or  holy  rest.  The  Lord  tlierefore  enjoins  this  rest 
from  labor  upon  ihis  day,  uot  so  mucli  for  ihe  rest's  sake,  but 
because  it  is  a  medium,  or  means  of  that  holiness  which  the  Lord 
requires  upon  tlijs  day ;  otherwise  the  Sabbath  is  a  day  of  idle* 
neB3,  not  of  holiness ;  our  cattle  can  rest  but  a  common  real  from 
labor  as  well  as  we  ;  and  therefore  it  is  man's  sin  and  shame 
if  be  improTo  Ihe  day  no  belter  than  the  beasts  that  perish. 

TAeiig  2.  And  as  Ihe  rest  of  the  day  is  for  ihe  holiness  of  it, 
eo  is  all  the  labor  of  the  week  for  this  holy  rest ;  that  as  the  end 
of  all  the  labor  of  our  lives  is  for  our  rest  with  Christ  in  heaven, 
BO  also  of  the  six  days  of  every  week  for  the  holy  rest  of  the 
Sabbath,  (he  twilight  and  dawning  of  heaven.  For  the  eightli 
commandment,  which  would  not  have  us  steal,  commands  tis 
therefore  to  labor  for  our  families  and  comforts  in  all  the  seasons 
of  tabor.  This  fourth  command,  therefore,  which  not  only  per- 
mits but  commands  us  to  labor  six  days,  must  have  another 
respect  in  commanding  us  to  labor,  and  a  higher  end,  which  can 
not  be  any  thing  else  but  with  respect  to  the  Sabbath  ;  that  as 
we  arc  to  watch  unto  prayer,  so  we  are  to  work  unto  the  Sab- 
bath, or  so  work  all  the  week  day  that  wo  may  meet  with  God, 
and  sanctify  the  Sabbath  day. 

T^etit  8.  As  therefore  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath  is  moral 
because  it  is  the  end  of  the  day,  so  is  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath 
(the  immediate  means  to  that  end)  moral  abo.  Look,  therefore, 
whatever  holy  duties  Ihe  Lord  required  of  the  Jews,  which  were 
not  ceremonial,  the  same  duties  he  requires  of  us  upon  this  day; 

whatever  rest  he  required  of  them  for  this  end,  he  exacts 

Christians  also. 

ITtetit  1.  Those  (hat  make  the  Sabbath  ceremonial  imagine 
BUicter  rest  imposed  ujion  the  Jews  ih      ™    •    ■ 


251 


al 
Ih 

J 


JWCTIFICATIOS    OF  THE 


255 


I 


I 


Im'.iiiil  1111(0,  boeause  they  place  the  ceremonial  ness  of  (lie  Sab- 
balli  in  llie  alriut  rest  of  it ;  but  we  are  Iwund  to  the  same  rest 
fur  BulujUnco  of  it;  and  ttic  ground  lor  a  stricter  rest  than  we 
ftre  bound  unio  will  be  found  too  light,  if  well  pondered. 

Theti*  b.  For,  though  it  be  said  that  the  Jews  might  not 
bake,  nor  seethe  meat  upon  (his  day,  (Ex.  xvi.  23,)  no,  nor  make 
k  fire  upon  il,  (Ex.  xxkv.  a,)  no,  nor  gather  sticks  upon  it,  with- 
out death,  (Num.  vi.  15,  3D,)  —  nil  whit-h  things  Christians  now 
mnj  lawfully  do,  —  yet  nooe  of  these  places  will  evince  that  for 
which  they  are  alleged. 

Tluwi  G.  For.  Bi-st.  it  is  not  saiil,  (Kx.  xri.  23,)  Bake  and 
seethe  tliat  to-day  which  may  serve  you  next  day ;  but,  that  which 
remains,  {viz.,  which  is  Dot  sod  nor  bnked,)  lay  it  up  until  the 
morning,  and  conact]iiently  for  the  morrow  of  the  next  day, 
which  being  thus  luid  up,  I  do  not  find  (hat  they  are  forbidden 
to  bake  or  eeelhe  that  which  remains  U])on  the  next  day :  but 
rather,  if  they  must  use  it  the  next  day,  they  might  then  bake  it 
or  seethe  it  that  day  alao,  as  ihey  did,  tliat  of  the  sixth  day,  and 
without  which  they  could  not  have  the  comfortable  use  of  it  upon 
the  Sabbath  day.  Indeed,  it  was  an  lawful  lo  grind  and  beat  the 
manna  in  mills  and  mortare,  mentioned  Num.  xi.  8,  upon  this 
day  as  now  to  thresh  and  grind  corn  this  day  ;  the  meul  there- 
fore, which  did  remain,  is  not  forbidden  to  be  baked  or  sod  upon 
this  day ;  nor  would  God's  special  and  miraculous  providence 
ftppcar  in  preserving  it  from  worms  and  stinking,  if  there  had 
been  any  baking  of  it  the  day  before,  and  not  rather  upon  the 
Sabbalh  day. 

Theiit  7.  Although  also  they  were  forbidden  to  kindle  Gk 
apon  this  day,  (Ki.  xxsv.  3,)  in  respect  of  some  use,  yet  Ihey 
■re  not  forbidden  so  to  do  in  respect  of  any  use  whatsoever. 
For  there  was  tire  kindled  for  the  Sabbath  sacrifices,  and  it  would 
been  a  breach  of  the  rule  of  meri^y,  not  to  kindle  a  fire  for 
the  sick  and  weak  in  the  wilderness.  Nehemiah  also,  a  man 
strict  and  zealous  for  the  .Sabbath,  yol  had  such  provision 
made  every  diiy  as  could  not  be  dressed  nor  eaten  without  some 
Are  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  (Neh.  r.  18;)  and  the  Sabbalh  not 
being  a  fast,  but  a  feast  in  those  times  as  well  as  these,  hence  it 
tl  not  unsuitable  to  the  time  to  have  comfortable  provisions  made 
,'l«tdy,  provided  thai  the  dressing  of  meat  be  not  an  ordinary 
[iUnderance  to  public  or  private  duties  of  holiness  upon  this  day, 
(Ex.  xii.  16:)  ihis  kindling  of  the  Are  here  forbidden  must  there* 
ure  be  understood  in  respect  of  ihc  scope  of  the  [ilace,  viz.,  not 
U  kindle  a  fire  for  any  servile  work,  no,  not  in  respect  of  ihia 
particular  use  of  ii,  vix..  lo  further  the  building  of  the  sanctuarj 


I 
I 


And  tabernacle,  made  meniinn  of  in  ihia  diapter  ;  for  it  is  said^ 
whosoever  shall  do  any  work  therein  (i.  e,,  any  servile  work,  whicb 
is  more  proper  Tor  the  week  lime)  shall  be  put  to  denth,  (rer 
2 ;)  there  is,  therefore,  eiihur  no  dependence  of  these  words  in 
the  third  Terse  with  those  in  the  second,  or  else  we  must  under- 
slnnd  it  of  kindling  fires  rrstrictiTely  for  any  serrile  work,  whiel 
ia  there  forbidden  not  only  the  Jewa,  hut  us  Christians  also. 

TTifM  8.  The  man  lliat  gathered  sticks  on  the  Stibhath  (Num. 
XV.  30)  viae  put  to  death.  What !  for  gathering  of  sticks  only  ? 
Why  then  did  not  the  just  God  put  ihem  to  death  who  were  the 
first  otfenders,  (and  therefore  most  fit  to  be  made  examples,)  who 
went  out  to  gather  manna  upon  Ibb  da;  ?  (Ex.xvi.)  Thisgalh- 
ering  of  sticks,  therefore,  though  little  in  itself,  yei  seems  to  be 
aggravated  hy  presumption  ;  aiid  tliat  the  man  did  pnsumpluou3-> 
ly  break  the  Sabbath,  and  therefore  it  is  generally  observed,  tlial 
this  very  example  follows  the  law  of  punishing  a  preBumptuoua 
transgressor  with  death  in  this  very  diapter :  and  though  it  be 
said  that  they  found  a  man  gathering  sticks,  as  if  it  were  done 
secretly,  and  not  presumptuously,  yet  we  know  that  presamp- 
tuotis  sins  may  be  committed  secretly  as  well  ns  openly,  though 
they  are  not  in  so  high  n  degree  presumptuous  as  when  they  are 
done  more  openly  :  the  fear  of  the  law  against  Sahbatb  breakers 
might  restnun  the  man  from  doing  tltut  <^nly  whi«^  before 
God  was  done  proudly  and  presumptuously ;  and  tliough  Moses 
doubted  what  to  do  with  the  man,  who  had  that  capital  law 
pven  him  before  against  Stkbbath  breakers,  yet  they  might  be 
ignorant  for  a  time  of  the  full  and  true  meaning  of  it,  which  the 
Lord  here  seems  to  expound,  Tiz^  that  a  Sabbath  breaker  sinning 
presumptuously  is  to  be  put  to  death;  and  although  it  be  doubted 
whether  such  a  law  is  not  too  rigorous  in  tliese  times,  yet  we  da 
see  that  where  the  mi^strate  neglects  to  tvstrain  from  this  sin, 
the  Lord  takes  the  magislntie's  work  into  his  own  hand,  and 
many  times  cuts  them  off  suddenly  who  profane  his  Sabballi 
presumptuously  ;  and  it  is  worth  inquiring  into,  whether  pre^ 
sumptuous  Sabbath  breakers  are  not  still  to  be  put  to  death; 
which  1  doubt  not  but  tliac  the  Lord  will  either  one  day  clear  up, 
or  else  dis<«ver  some  specialty  in  the  application  of  this  judicial 
law,  to  that  polity  of  the  Jews,  as  moet  tit  for  ibem,  and  not  so  uni- 
versally fit  for  all  others  in  Christian  commonwealths ;  but  this 
latter  I  yet  see  no  proof  for ;  nor  do  I  expect  the  clearing  up  of 
the  other  while  the  temper  of  (he  times  is  loose  and  lukewarm. 

7%etti  9.  Considering,  therefore,  that  some  work  may  be 
done  upon  the  Sabbath,  and  some  not,  and  that  man's  heart  ia 
apt  to  run  to  extremes,  either  lo  gross  profaneness  or  pliarisaica^ 


] 


I 


THE   SASCTIFICATIOM    OF   THE 


^^M  atriclncj^  we  are  ihcrerore  to  inrjuire  what  works  we  must  n 
^H  from,  anil  whni  not  from,  upon  ihu  8iibt>itili  dtiy. 
^  Thftit  10.  If  ihc  Smiiiures  may  be  jodge  herein,  we  ebaU 
find  that  wlien  ihpy  forliid  all  manner  of  work,  they  inteqiret 
this  of  servile  work.  The  work  forhidderi  in  Itie  annual  Sab- 
balbs,  (which  did  bul  shadow  out  the  rest  on  liiis  Sabbath,}  it  is 
servile  work,  (Lev.  xxiii.  7,  8 ;)  and  henee  the  rest  on  llie  Sab- 
bath (in  this  fourth  command)  is  opposed  lo  the  labor  on  the 
week  days,  which  is  propisrly  servile,  lawful  to  be  done  then,  but 
unlawful  upon  the  Siibbidb  duy. 

ThetU  II.  The  schoolmen  and  some  of  their  late  idolixers, 
(like  the  Pharisees  of  old,)  ever  blind  in  interpreting  the  spirit- 
aalnees  of  the  hiw  of  God,  describe  a  senile  work  in  that  man- 
ner, so  ae  that  the  grinding  of  waiermills  and  windmilbi,  as 
Iabo  the  counsels  of  lawyers  to  their  client^  the  herring  trade  of 
Ishermen,  are  with  ihera  no  BCrvJIe  works  on  this  day  ;  and  in- 
deed they  scarce  make  any  work  servile,  but  what  is  slavish  and 
•xternal  bondage  and  burden. 
Thait  12.  But  if  we  consult  with  Scriptures  and  the  very 
words  of  this  fourth  commandment,  we  shall  tind  two  things  con- 
eurring  to  make  up  a  servile  work:  1.  If  any  work  be  done 
fer  any  worldly  gain,  profit,  or  H«e1ibood,  to  acquire  and  pur- 
ahase  the  things  of  this  life  bv,  (which  is  the  principal  end  of 
week-day  Ubor,  Eph.  Iv.  28;'l  Thess.  iv.  12.)  this  is  a  servile 
work,  all  one  with  what  the    commandment  c^Its  "  thy  work," 

»  Hence  buying,  selling,  sowing,  reaping,  which  are  done  for 
worldly  gain,  are  unlawful  on  this  day,  being  therefore  servile 
works :  hence  also  worlilly  sports  and  pastimes  (which  are  or- 
dained of  God  to  whet  on  worldly  labor,  not  necessary  every 
dty.  hm  only  at  some  seasons)  are  therefore  most  proper  appur- 
tenances unto  days  of  labor,  and  are  therefore  unlawful  upon 
Ibis  day.  Iluly  limes  are  no  more  to  be  sported  on  than  holy 
plaresi  hence  alto,  on  the  other  side,  to  rub  the  ears  of  corn,  to 

»  dress  meat  for  cumfortnble  nourishment  of  man,  becau.^e  they 
respect  not  worldly  gain,  are  no  servile  works,  nor  yet  unlawful, 
kat  may  be  more  lawfully  done  for  the  comfort  of  man  than  to 
lead  his  horse  to  the  water  this  day,  (Luke  vi.  2,  and  xiii.  lA, 
and  xiv.  5 ;)  hence  also  such  works  as  are  done  only  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  creatures,  as  to  pult  a  sheep  out  of  a  dituh,  to 
quench  fire  in  a  town,  to  save  com  and  hay  from  the  sudden  in- 
undation of  water,  to  keep  fire  in  the  iron  mills,  to  sit  at  stern  and 
guide  the  ship,  and  a  thousand  such  like  actions,  (being  not  done 
properly  for  worldly  gain,)  are  not  unlawful ;  God  himself  not 
WMios  from  works  of  presBrvatiun.  when  h«  did  from  tli9f»  ff 


I 


258  TUB  s.»JiCTiriCATi(jjj  or  riiE  SAiiitATH.  ' 

creation  ;  hence  also  bupH  workfi  as  nre  not  works  of  immediate 
worsliip,  but  only  required  ncceKanly  llicreio,  os  killing  ibe  sac- 
rifices in  the  Ittnple,  traveling  a  Snbtmlb  day's  journey  to  the 
public  assemblies,  being  no  servilu  works  for  outward  gain,  ara 
not  unlawful  upon  tliiK  day. 

2.  Such  worldly  works,  which  (hough  ihey  be  not  done  for 
worldly  gain  or  profit,  yet  if  by  a  provident  care  and  foresight 
they  might  be  done  an  well  the  week  before,  or  may  as  well  be 
done  a  week  after  the  Sabbath,  these  also  ore  servile  works;  for 
thus  the  eommandment  cxpresselh  it :  "  Six  days  lliou  mayest  do 
ull  thy  work,"  (meaning  whinh  can  be  done  as  well  the  week  be- 
fore.) and  if  all  can  not  be  done,  it  may  therefore  be  as  well  done 
tlie  week  afi«r.  Hence  the  building  of  the  tabernacle,  (which 
was  not  so  much  for  man's  profit  as  God's  honor,)  because  it 
might  be  done  upon  the  six  days  seasonably  enough,  hence  it  is 
prohibited  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  (Kx.  xxxi.)  If  a  man  hath 
C(»ii  in  the  Aeld,  tliough  be  may  pretend  that  tlic  weather  is  un- 
certain, and  il  is  ready  lo  be  brought  into  the  barn,  yel  he  is  not 
to  fetch  it  in  upon  the  iSabbaih  day,  because  there  is  uo  imminent 
danger  of  spoil  the  Monday  alter,  and  then  ho  may  fetch  it  as 
well  as  upon  that  day  ;  the  like  may  be  said  concerning  seamen's 
setting  sail  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  though  they  be  uncertain  of  a 
fair  gale  upon  the  dny  after.  Yet  we  must  trust  God'a  providence, 
who  almost  in  all  such  matters  keeps  us  at  uncertainties  ;  hence 
also  the  sweeping  of  the  house  ought  not  to  be  done  now,  if  it 
may  as  well  be  done  the  day  before ;  so  ulbO  to  buy  any  things  at 
shops,  or  to  wash  clothes  ;  if  they  may  be  done  the  week  before 
or  after,  they  must  not  be  done  upon  this  day  ;  hence,  on  the 
other  side,  works  of  necessity,  which  can  not  be  so  eoiivenienlly 
done  the  day  before  or  after,  are  not  unlawful  upon  this  day,  aa 
lo  lly  in  persecution,  to  watch  the  city,  to  fight  with  the  enemy. 
(Hatt  xxiv.  24.  2  Kings  i.  2.)  Hence  also  works  of  necessity, 
not  only  for  preservation  of  life,  but  also  for  comfort  and  comeli- 
ness of  life,  are  not  unlawful ;  tor  it  is  a  gross  mistake  lo  think 
tliat  works  only  of  absolute  necessity  are  allowed  only  upon  this 
duy  ;  for  lo  lead  an  ok  to  water,  which  in  the  strictest  times  was 
not  disallowed  of,  is  not  of  atraoluie  necessity,  for  it  may  live 
more  than  a  day  without  it ;  only  it  is  necessary  for  the  comfort 
of  the  life  of  the  beast :  how  much  more  is  allowed  to  the  comfort 
of  the  life  of  man  !  Thedisciples  possibly  might  have  lived  longer 
than  the  Sabbath  without  rubbing  com  ears,  and  men  may  live 
on  Sabbath  days  generally  without  warm  meat,  yea,  tbey  may  fast 
perhaps  all  that  day  ;  yet  it  is  not  unlawful  to  eat  such  meat,  becausa 
it  JB.necessary  for  the  comfort  of  life,     Henpe  4]bo  lo  put  on  comely 


THE   a.VSCTIFlCATlON    Of  THR   SAUDATH.  25D 

I  garaientit,  to  WAfh  hands  nnd  face,  nnd  many  such  -things  as  are 
r  necessary  Tor  the  i-omeliness  as  well  as  llie  comrort  of  life,  nre 
[  not  unlawful  now ;  there  is  sometimes  an  inevitable  neressily  hy 
L  God's  pniviilence.  and  sometimes  a  contracted  necessity  through 
I  want  of  care  and  foresight :  in  this  case  the  work  may  sometimes 
I  be  done,  provided  that  our  neglect  beforeliand  be  repented  of:  in 
L'SiTonl,  h<>  that  shall  conscientiously  endeavor  that  no  more  work 
Kite  done  on  the  Sabbath  than  what  must  be  done  for  the  ends  men- 
T'tjoned,  Ihat  so  he  may  have  nothing  else  to  do  hut  to  be  with 
r  God  that  day,  shall  have  much  peace  to  his  own  conscience  here- 
r  In.  against  Satan's  clamors  :  tieiu'e.  lastly,  not  only  outward  sci^ 
['  vile  work,  but  gcrrilc  thoughts,  affections,  and  cares,  are  to  be 
.1  off  this  day  front  the  sight  of  God,  as  others  are  from  the 
['  eyes  of  men  ;  senrile  thoughts  and  affections  being  as  much 
I  against  the  fourth  commandment  as  unchaste  and  filthy  thoughts 
I  apiinit  the  seventh. 

E  Thetit  13.  That  we  are  to  abstain  from  all  servile  work,  not 
[.  to  much  in  regard  of  the  hare  abstinence  from  work,  but  that 
\  haviug  no  work  of  our  own  to  mind  or  do,  we  might  be  wholly 
I  taken  up  with  God's  work,  being  wholly  taken  off  from  our  own 
L  that  he  may  speak  with  us,  and  reveal  himself  more  fully  and 
^  fiimiliarly  (o  ua,  (as  friends  do  when  ibcy  get  alone,}  having 
catled  and  carried  us  out  of  the  noise  and  crowd  of  all  worldly 
occasion s  and  things. 

Thtrit  14.     Holy  rest,  therefore,  being  for  holy  work,  it  may 
not  be  amiss  to  inquire  what  this  work  is,  and  wherein   it  con- 
sieu  \  for  which  end  I  shall  not  instance  in  any  the  particular 
Kveral  duties,  in  public  and  private,  of  holiness  and  mercy,  be- 
cause this  is  to  be  found  in  uU  who  write  upon  this  subject.     I 
■ball  only  speak  of  lhat  kind  of  holiness  which  the  Lord  requires 
I  in  all  public  and  private  duties,  and  is  to  run  throngh  them,aiii]nsit 
t  were  animate  them  ;  and  in  truth  to  find  out  this,  and  ob«erve  this, 
<■  im  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  (but  yet  the  greatest  excellency) 
of  a  Christian  life.     It  consists  therefore  in  these  five  thing* : — 
TlirtU  \h.     The  first :  the  holiness  upon  this  day  ought  to  1» 
immediate.     I  do  not  mean  without  the  use  of  public  or  privtue 
means,  but  in  respect  of  worldly  things  ;  for  we  are  commanded 
to  be  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation  all  the  week  in  our 
worldly  affairs.  (1  Pet.  i.  17.)      Holiness   is  to  be  writ    upon 
our  cups,  and  pots,  and  horse  bridles,,  and  plows,  and  sickles, 
(Z«cb.  xiv.  20,  21 ;)  but  this  holiness  is  more  immediate;  wa 


ttie 


:ekly 


I 

i 


enjoy  God  by  and  i 
I  and  providences ;  bnt  do  we  think  that  thi 
.^mjaii^  upon  the  Uubbath  ?     Verily,  every  day  then  should  bo 


e  hulines* 


I 


I 


260 


HE    SANCriFICATlOS 


our  Christian  Salibath,  which  is  most  fnl^e  ;  end  ihervfore  some 
more  immediiite  holiness  is  rcqiilretJ  now  mi  [his  day  which  is  not 
then,  nor  required  of  us  every  week  day  ;  and  whal  can  ibis  be 
but  dr&wing  near  to  God  this  day  more  imraediuiely,  and  as  near 
as  mortal  man  can  do,  and  casting  aside  the  world,  and  getting 
out  of  it,  and  so  to  be  near  God  in  prayer,  in  hearing  the  word, 
in  meditation,  etc.?  (Ps.  xcv.  .%  6.)  If  it  were  possible  to  bo 
with  and  enjoy  Christ  in  heaven  where  lliero  are  no  means,  we 
should  this  duy  long  for  it,  and  prize  it ;  but  because  tlii»  can  not 
yet  be,  and  lliat  the  Lord  comes  down  from  heavea  to  us  in  hia 
ordinances,  and  thereby  makes  himself  ns  near  to  us  as  be  can  in 
this  frail  life,  hence  we  are  not  only  to  draw  near  to  ordinances, 
but  to  Giod  and  Christ  in  thera,  upon  this  day,  and  so  he  as  near 
them  with  greatest  immediaieness  that  we  can.  (Vs.  xlii.  1,  2; 
Ixiii.  1-3.)  Adam  did  enjoy  God  in  his  calling  the  week  day, 
but  this  was  not  so  immediate  as  he  was  to  have  upon  ilie  Sab- 
hath  day. 

T/ietii  IC.  The  second  is,  this  holiness  ought  not  only  to  be 
immediate,  but  also  special,  and  in  our  endeavors  afler  the  high- 
eel  degree,  and  with  the  greatest  intention  of  holiness ;  for  we  are 
bound  every  day  lo  be  holy  in  more  immediate  and  near  ap- 
proaches to  God  some  time  or  other  of  the  day  ;  but  now  we  are 
culled  to  !«  more  specially  holy,  because  both  the  day  and  our- 
selves are  uow  set  apart  for  it  in  a  more  special  manner.  We 
are  to  love,  fear,  delight  in  God,  and  pray  to  him,  and  muse  on 
him  every  day,  but  now  in  a  more  special  manner  all  these  are 
lo  be  done.  The  Sabbath  is  not  only  called  "  holy,"  but "  holiness 
lo  lliu  Lord,"  (Ex.  xxxi.  15  ;)  whicii  shows  that  the  day  b  exceed- 
ing holy,  and  suitably  our  affections  and  hearts  ought  therefore 
BO  to  be.  The  Bacrifiee  on  this  day  was  to  be  doubled.  {Num. 
xxviii.  9.)  The  Lord  would  have  double  honor  from  us  this 
day ;  that  as  in  the  week  lime  we  are  sinfully  drowned  in  the 
cares  of  this  world,  and  affections  thereto,  so  upon  every  ^ubbath 
we  should  be  in  a  holy  mtinner  drowned  in  the  cares,  and  thoughts, 
and  afl'ections  of  the  things  of  God ;  and  hence  we  are  com- 
manded lo  call  the  Sabbath  our  delight,  and  not  to  think  our  own  , 
thoughts,  or  do  our  own  works  this  day.  (Is.  Iviii.  13.)  David 
said  (Ps.  xliii.  4)  that  he  would  go  to  the  altar  of  God,  (the 
placts  of  public  worship,)  to  God  his  joy,  yea,  his  exceeding  joy; 
HO  are  we  not  only  to  draw  near  to  altar,  word,  sacraments, 
prayer,but  to  God  in  them  ;  nay,  to  God  in  them  as  our  exceed- 
ing joy,  our  exceeding  love,  our  exceeding  fear,  etc.,  especially 
upon  this  day.  There  is  scarce  any  week  but  we  contract  soil 
from  our  worldly  occasions,  and  by  touching  worldly  things ;   and 


TUK   8ANCTIF1CATION    OF  THE   SADDATn. 


261 


er  mnny  decays,  and  lose  much  ground  by  (emptaliona 

Now,  the  Lord  pilying  us,  and  giving  us  a  Sabbath  of 

y,  whftl  should  we  Uo  now  but  return,  recover,  and  renew 

r  strenglh,  nnd,  like  the  eagle,  cnst  our  bills,  and  tiiund  before 

r  God  und  King  this  day  of  state  and  royal  majesty,  when  all 

i  compass  his  llirone  and  presence,  with  our  moet  beau- 

Tul  gnnaenls,  mourning  especiaUy  that  we  fnll  bo  far  short  of 

Jabbath  ucis  and  services  ?     We  shnuld  not  content  ourselves 

Evilb  working-day  holinesa,  joys,  fears,  hopes,  prayers,  pmiaes ; 

wbat  Sabbath  Joys,  fears,  praises,  must  be  now  our  om&menls,  and 

K^  within  us  must  be  rttised  up  to  a  higher  strain ;  that  aa  God 

Knives  us  this  day,  special  grace,  means  of  grace,  seasons  of  grace, 

f  Ipecial  occasions  of  grace,  by  reviewing  all  our  experiences  the 

Kiveek  past,  m  there  is  good  reason  that  the  Lord  should  be  hon- 

[  ored  with  special  holiness  this  day. 

Tresis  17.     The  third  ia,  this  holiness  ought  to  bo  not  only 

immediate  and  special,  but  constant  and  continued,  the  whole  day 

together.     For  upon  every  day  of  the  week  we  are  to  loke  some 

time  for  converse  with  God ;  but  our  worldly  occasions  soon  call 

va  off,  and  that  lawfully  i  but  Sabbath  holiness  must  be  constant 

and  continued  all  the  day.    If  the  Lord  was  so  strict  that  he 

would  not  loee  a  moment's  honor  in  a  ceremonial  day  of  rest, 

w  (Lev.  u^iii.  32,)  what  shall  we  tbink  the  Lord  expects  upon 

■Bis  day  which  is  moral  ?     The  Lord  would  not  be  honored  tliia 

Ediy  only  by  fits,  and  flashes,  and  sudden  pangs,  which  pass  away 

I  f  (he  early  dew,  but  as  it  ra  in  the  psalm  for  the  Sabbath.  "It  is 

good  to  sing  of  his  loving  kindness  in  the  morning,  and  of  his 

faithfulness  every  nighi,"  (Ps.  xcii.  1,  '2i)  and  though  this  be  a 

wearisome  ibing  to  the  flesh  to  be  so  long  pent  in,  and  although 

we  can  not  perfectly  do  it,  yet  it  is  a  most  sweet  and  glorious 

work  in  itself,  to  think  that  the  infinite  glorious  God  should  call  a 

poor,  sinlul  creature  to  be  with  him  and  attend  upon  him  all  the 

day  long;  to  be  ever  with  the  Lord  is  best  of  all;  but  next  to 

that  to  be  with  him  a  whole  day  together.     They  that  see  how 

fit  ibey  are  to  be  forever  bauislied  from  the  presence  of  the  Most 

High,  and  how  exceeding  unworthy  to  come  into  it,  can  not  but 

infinitely  tmd  excessively  prize  tluit  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  day 

to  come  and  enter  into  his  rest,  and  lie  in  his  very  bosom  all  the 

I  dity  long,  and  as  a  most  loving  friend  loth  to  part  with  them  till 

rneedH  must  and  that  ibc  day  is  done. 

~      r  lU.     The  fourth  if,  this  holiness  ought  nut  only  to  be 

I  inmediHie,  special,  and  constant,  but  all  those  holy  duties  are  thus 

~0  be  performed  of  us  as  that  hereby  we  may  enter  into  rest :  so  as 

I  tiwt  our  souls  nitty  Itnd  and  feel  the  sweet  of  the  true  rest  of  the 


I 

i 


I 
I 

I 


I 


I 


Sl^  xnK  sANrTit-icATiON  or  TnF.  sabiiath. 

Sabbath;  and  thrrpfore  it  must  be  n  sweet  and  quieting  bolinesa 
also;  for  the  Sabbath  is  not  only  called  a  Sitbbaih  of  n 
iipect  of  our  exemption  from  bodily  labor,  but  because  i 
be  sanctified,  as  lliat  on  this  day  we  enter  into  rest,  or  such  a 
fruition  of  tiod  as  gives  rest  to  our  souls ;  otherwise  n 
sanctify  a  Sabbath  aright,  because  wc  then  fall  short  of  this,  which 
ii  the  main  end  thereof,  until  we  come  so  to  seek  God  as  that  we 
find  him,  and  so  find  him  as  llint  we  feel  TC»t  in  him,  in  drawing 
neiir  to  him  and  standing;  before  him  ;  that  oa  God,  ot^er  his  six 
days'  labor,  did  rest,  and  was  rcfreRhed  in  tlic  fruition  of  himself, 
so  should  we,  afrer  our  six  days'  labor,  also  be  refreshed  in  tho 
presence  of  the  Lord ;  that  in  case  we  want  means  upon  the 
Sabbath,  yet  he  may  be  in  lieu  of  ihem  unto  uaj  and  in  case  wa 
Itare  them,  and  find  but  liiile  by  them  conveyed  to  us,  yet  that  by 
that  little  we  may  be  carried  on  the  win^  of  feith  beyond  all 
means  unto  that  rest  which  upon  this  day  we  may  find  in  his 
bosom  i  that  as  Christ,  after  his  labors,  entered  into  liis  rest,  (ITeb, 
iv.,)  so  we  ought  to  labor  after  the  same  Sabbatism  begun  here  on 
earth,  but  perfected  in  heaven  i  that  after  all  the  weary  steps  we 
tread,  and  sins  and  sorrows  we  find  all  the  week,  yet  when  the  SaV 
bath  cornea  we  may  say.  Reinm  unto  thy  rest.O  my  soul.  The  end 
of  all  labor  is  rest ;  so  the  end  of  all  our  bodily  and  spiritna)  labor, 
whether  on  the  week  days  or  Sabbath  day,  it  should  be  this  rest; 
and  we  should  never  think  that  we  have  reached  the  end  of  the 
day  until  we  taste  the  rest  of  the  day.  Nor  is  this  rest  a  meteor 
in  tbe  air,  and  a  thing  only  to  be  wished  for,  but  can  never  bo 
found;  but  assuredly  those  who  are  wearied  with  their  sing  in 
the  week  and  wants  on  the  Sabbath,  and  feel  a  need  of  rest  and 
refreshing,  shall  cei'tainly  have  the  blessing,  viz.,  the  rest  of  these 
seasons  of  refreshing  and  rest,  and  Ihe  comforts  of  the  Holy 
fihoBl  filling  their  bearls  this  day.  (Is,  1.  2-4 ;  Ivi.  5-8 :  Iviii. 
13,  14.  Ps.  xxxvi.  7,  8.)  Not  because  of  our  holiness,  which  la 
spotted  at  the  best,  but  because  of  our  great  High  Priest's  holiness, 
who  hath  it  written  upon  his  forehead  to  lake  away  the  int((uily 
of  all  our  holy  offerings,  (£k.  xsviii.  SG,  38 ;)  and  who  hatb  gar- 
ments of  grace  and  blood  to  cover  us,  and  to  present  us  spoilers 
before  the  face  of  that  God  whom  we  seek  and  serve  with  much 
weakness,  and  wliom  at  last  we  Ehalt  find,  when  our  short  day's 
work  here  is  done,  and  our  long-look ed-for  Sabbath  of  glory  shall 
begin  to  dawn. 

TAeti$  19.  Now,  when  the  Lord  hath  inclined  us  thus  to  rest 
and  sanctify  his  Sabbath,  what  should  the  last  act  of  our  bolinesa 
be  but  diffusive  and  communicative,  viz.,  in  doing  our  utmost  that 
others  under  us.  or  that  have  relation  to  us,  that  they  sanctify  the 


1 

I 
I 


I 


8ub1)atli  also,  ncTOrding  to  Ihe  Lord's  express  |Hirtiuil:ir  cburge 

in  the  uummaiidment,  "Thou,  thy  Bun,  thy  dituglUer,  thy  aervanls, 

the  stranger  irithin  ihy  gates  "F    The  exwilcucy  of  Chrixt's 

,   boUness  consists  in  makiag  us  like  himaeir  in  holiness ;  the  escel- 

r  leney  and  glory  of  a  Christian's  hoUnetH  is  to  endeavor  to  be  like 

'  to  the  Lord  Christ  therein  :  our  children,  sert'ttnts,  strangers  who 

ftre  within  our  gates,  are  apt  to  profane  the  Sabbath ;  we  are 

therefore  to  improve  our  power  over  them  for  God,  in  restraining 

them  from  sin,  and  in  constraining  them  (as  far  as  we  can)  lo  the 

holy  observance  of  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  iest  God  impute  their 

Bins  to  us,  who  had  power  (as  Eli  in  the  like  case)  to  restrain 

them  and  did  not ;  and  so  our  families  and  conscieocea  be  stuined 

with  their  guitt  and  blood. 

Thait  20.  And  if  superiors  in  families  are  U>  see  their  galea 
preserved  unspotted  from  such  provoking  evils,  can  any  think 
but  tliat  the  same  bond  lies  upon  superiors  in  common  wealths, 
who  arc  the  fathers  of  those  great  families,  whose  subjects  also 
arc  within  their  gntes,  and  the  power  of  their  jurisdictions  ?  The 
civil  magistrate,  though  he  hath  no  power  to  imjiose  new  laws 
upon  the  consciences  of  bis  subjects,  yet  be  is  bound  to  see  that 
the  laws  of  God  be  kept  by  all  his  subjects;  provided  always, 
that  herein  he  walk  according  to  the  law  and  rule  of  God,  v\t,, 
Ihal,  1,  ignopant  consciences  in  clear  and  momculous  matters  be 
first  instructed;  %,  doubting  consciences  have  sufficient  means 
of  being  resolved ;  8.  bold  and  audacious  consciences  be  first 
forewarned.  Hence  it  is,  that  though  he  hath  no  power  to  make 
holy  days,  and  to  impose  the  observation  of  them  upon  the  con- 
Bci^nces  of  bis  subjects,  (because  these  are  his  own  laws,)  yet  be 
may  and  should  see  that  the  Sabbath  day,  (tlie  Lord's  lioly  day,) 
that  this  be  observed,  because  he  doth  but  see  to  the  execution 
of  God's  commandment  herein. 

Ity  wimt  rule  did  Nehemiah  not  only  forbid  the  breach  of  the 
iiabbalh.  but  did  also  threaten  bodily  punishment  upon  the  men 
of  Tyre  ?  (although  llicy  were  heathens,  yet  were  they  at  this 
I   time  within  the  gales  and  compass  of  his  jurisdiction,  Neh.  xiii. 
Certainly  he  thought  himself  bound  in  conscience  to  see 
\  that  the  Sabbalb  should  not  be  profaned  by  any  that  were  within 
hia  gates,  according  to  this  fourth  commandment.     If  kings,  and 
princes,  and  civil  magbiralet  have  nothing  to  do  in  matters  of  the 
first  table,  (and  consequently  must  give  any  man  liberty  lo  pro- 
fane the  Sabbatli  that  pretends  conscience,)  why  then  doth  Jer- 
emy call  upon  princes  lo  see  that  it  be  not  profaned,  with  prom- 
I   iw  uf  having  their  crowns  and  kingdoms  preserved  from  wrulk 
L  if  thus  they  do,  and  with  threatening  the  burning  up  and  oon- 


I 


I 


p 


suminj;  of  cily  anil  kingdom  if  (bin  (hej  do  not  ?  (Jer.  xvii.  19, 
S5,  27.)  If  civil  magisCrniei)  have  noiliing  lo  do  herein,  they 
then  hitve  nothing  lo  do  lo  preserve  ihcir  crovraa,  kingdoms,  scep- 
ters, subjecia,  from  lire  and  blood,  and  utter  ruin.  Nehemiab  was 
no  type  of  Christ,  nor  were  the  kings  of  Israel  bound  lo  see  the 
Sabbaib  kept  aa  types  of  Christ,  but  as  nursing  fathers  of  the 
common  wealth,  and  because  their  own  subjects  were  within  their 
gales,  and  under  their  power;  and  therefore,  according  to  this 
moral  rule  of  the  commandment,  they  were  Lound  not  only  to 
keep  it  themselves,  but  to  see  that  all  others  did  so  also.  Il  is 
true  civil  niagislrntcs  may  alnise  tlieir  power,  judge  amiss,  and 
think  that  to  be  the  command  of  God  which  is  not;  but  we  must 
not  therefore  take  away  their  power  from  them,  because  they 
may  pervert  it  and  abuse  it;  we  mast  not  deny  that  power  they 
have  for  GoA,  becnuse  they  may  pervert  it  and  turn  llie  edfre  of  it 
against  God ;  for  if  upon  tliis  ground  tlie  magistrate  hath  no 
power  over  his  eulijecls  in  matters  of  the  first  table,  he  may  have 
also  all  his  leathers  pulled  from  him,  and  all  his  power  taken 
from  him  in  matters  of  the  second  table ;  for  we  know  that  he 
may  work  strange  changes  there,  and  pervert  justice  and  judg- 
ment exceedingly ;  we  must  not  deny  their  power,  because  they 
may  turn  it  awry,  and  hurt  God's  churcli  and  people  by  it,  but 
(as  the  apostle  exhorts,  1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2)  lo  pray  for  them  th« 
more,  that  under  them  we  may  live  a  peaceable  life  in  all  godli* 
Inesa  and  honesty :  it  is  a  thousand  times  better  to  suffer  perse- 
P  culion  for  riglileousness'  sake  and  for  a  good  conscience,  than  to 
desire  and  ple^  for  toleration  of  all  consciences,  that  so  (by  this 
cowardly  device  and  lukewarm  principle)  our  own  may  be  un- 
touched :  it  was  never  heard  of,  until  now  of  late,  that  any  of 
God's  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  faithful  witnessess,  etc.,  that 
they  ever  pleaded  for  liberty  in  error,  but  only  for  the  trutl^ 
whicli  they  preached  and  prayed  for,  and  suffered  for  unto  the 
death  ;  and  their  sufferings  for  the  truth  with  zeal,  patience,  faith, 
constancy,  have  done  more  good  than  the  way  of  universal  toler- 
ation is  like  lo  do,  which  is  purposely  invented  to  avoid  trou- 
ble. Truth  hath  ever  spread  by  opposition  and  persecution  ;  but 
I  error,  being  a  child  of  Satan,  hath  fled,  by  a  aealous  resbting 


Sick  and  weak  men  are  to  be  tendered  much,  but  lunatic  and 
frantic  men  arc  in  best  case  when  they  are  well  fettered  and  bound : 
a  weak  conscience  is  lo  be  tendered,  n  humble  conscience  toler- 
ated ;  errors  of  weakness,  not  wickedness,  are  with  all  gentleness 
lo  be  handled ;  (he  liberty  given  in  the  reign  of  Episcopacy  for 
sports,  and  pastimes,  and  may  games,  upon  the  Lord's  day,  was 


I 


TUE  SANCTlFICATIOJi    OV  THE   SAIlHATlt.  26.1 

tmee  loathsome  to  ull  lionest  mindit ;  but  now  to  allow  a  greater 
lilwriy  to  buy,  sell,  plow,  cart,  thri^h,  sport  upon  the  Sabbath  day, 
to  all  thoRe  who  pretend  conscience,  or  rathpr  that  they  have  no 
conscience  of  one  day  more  than  another,  is  to  l)uild  up  Jericho 
and  Babel  a|rain,  and  to  lay  foundations  of  wrath  to  ihe  land ;  for 
Grod  will  certainly  revenge  the  poltutiong  of  liia  .SabballiB :  if  God 
be  troubled  in  his  rest,  no  wonder  if  he  disturbs  our  peace :  some 
of  ihe  ancients  think  that  Ihe  Lord  brought  the  flood  of  waters 
upon  Ihe  Sabbath  day,  as  they  gather  from  Oen.  vii.  10,  hccausfl 
they  were  grown  to  be  great  profaner*  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and  wo 
know  that  Prague  was  taken  upon  this  day.  The  day  of  their 
sin  began  all  their  sorrows,  which  are  continued  ID  this  day,  to 
the  Mnazement  of  the  world.  When-  the  time  comes  that  the 
Iiord'g  precious  Sabbaths  are  the  days  of  God's  church's  rest, 
then  shall  come  in  the  church's  peace.  (Ps.  cii.  13,  14.)  The 
freo  grace  of  Christ  must  first  begin  herein  with  us,lhat  we  may 
find  at  last  tliat  rest  which  this  evil  world  is  not  yet  like  19  see, 
unless  it  speedily  love  his  law  more,  and  his  Sabbaths  belter. 

I  could  therefore  desire  to  conclude  this  doctrine  uf  the  Sab- 
bath with  tears,  and  I  wish  it  might  be  matter  of  bitter  lamenia' 
tion  to  Ihe  mourners  in  Sion,  every  where  to  behold  (he  universal 
profanation  of  Ihesti  precious  times  and  seasons  of  refreshilig, 
toward  which,  through  the  abounding  of  iniquity,  the  love  of 
many,  who  once  seemed  zealous  for  them,  is  now  grown  cold  :  th« 
Lonl  might  have  suffered  poor,  worthletis,  sorrowful  man  to  have 
worn  ami  wasted  out  all  his  days  in  ibis  life  in  weariness,  grief,  and 
labor,  and  to  have  filled  his  days  with  nothing  else  but  work,  and 
minding  of  his  own  things,  and  bearing  bis  own  ncccsnary  cum- 
bers and  burdens  here,  and  never  have  allowed  him  a  day  of  rest 
until  he  came  up  to  heaven  at  the  end  of  his  life ;  and  thus  to 
have  done  would  have  been  infinite  mercy  and  love,  though  he 
had  made  him  grind  the  mill  only  of  his  own  occasions,  and  feel 
Ihe  whip  and  the  lash  only  of  his  daily  griefs  and  labors,  until 
dark  night  came ;  but  such  is  ihe  overflowing  and  aliundanl  love 
of  a  blessed  God,  that  it  can  not  contain  itself  (as  it  were)  ra 
longa  time  from  special  fellowship  with  his  people  here  in  asinuigo 
luid,  and  in  an  evil  world,  and  therefore  will  have  some  special 
times  of  special  fellowship  and  sweetest  mutual  cmbrocings ;  and 
this  tJme  must  not  be  a  moment,  an  hour,  a  little,  and  then  away 
■gain  ;  but  a  whole  day,  that  there  may  be  time  enough  to  have 
Uieir  fill  of  love  in  eitdi  other's  bosom  before  they  part :  this  day 
must  not  be  mcruly  occasional  at  human  liberty,  and  now  and  then, 
lest  it  bo  too  seldom,  and  so  struugcnesg  grow  between  them ;  hut 
the  Lord  (who  exceeds  and  excels  poor  man  in  love)  therefore  to 
VOL.  1U.  23 


I 


I26G  TilE   SANUIIFICATION    U('    THE    t^AISDATtl.  ^H 

make  all  sure,  he  sets  nnd  Hxetli  the  duy,  and  nppointa  the  time.  ^M 

■nd  how  to  meet,  merely  out  of  love,  that  weary  man  may  enjoy  ^H 

kis  rest,  his  God,  his  love,  his  heaven,  as  much  and  as  ofleo  as  ^M 

may  be  here,  in  tliis  life,  until  he  come  up  to  glory,  to  rest  with 
Giod ;  and  that  because  man  can  not  here  enjoy  his  days  of  glory, 
he  might  therefore  foretaste  them  in  days  of  grace ;  and  is  this 
the  requital,  and  all  the  thanks  he  hath  for  hb  heart-breaking 
love  ?  to  turn  back  sweet  presence  and  fellowship,  and  love  of 
God  in  them,  to  dispute  away  these  days  with  scorn  and  con- 
tempt,  to  smoke  ihem  away  with  profanenera  and  mad  mirtli,  to 
dream  them  away  with  vanity  ;  to  drink,  to  swear,  to  riot,  to  whore, 
to  sport,  to  play,  to  card,  to  dice,  to  put  on  their  best  apparel 
that  they  may  dishonor  God  with  greater  pomp  and  bravery,  to 
tu1k  of  the  world,  to  be  later  up  that  day  than  any  other  day  of 
the  week,  when  their  own  irons  are  in  the  fire,  andyet  to  sleep  ser- 
nion,  or  scorn  the  ministry,  if  it  comes  home  to  their  conscieaces ; 
to  tell  tales  and  break  jests  at  home,  or  (at  best)  lo  talk  of  for- 
eign or  domestic  news,  only  to  pass  away  ibe  time,  rather  than  to 
see  God  in  his  works,  and  warm  their  hearts  thereby ;  to  think 
God  hath  good  measure  given  him,  if  they  attend  on  him  in  the 
forenoon,  although  the  afternoon  be  given  to  the  devil,  or  sleep,  or 
vanity,  or  foolish  pastimes  ;  to  draw  near  to  God  in  iheir  bodies, 
when  their  thoughts,  and  hearts,  and  aSections  are  gone  a-hunl- 
ing  or  ravening  after  ihe  world  the  Lord  knows  where,  but  far 
enough  off  from  him  :  do  you  thus  requite  the  Lord  for  this  great 
lore,  O  foolish  people  and  unwise?  Do  you  thus  make  the  days 
of  your  rest  and  joy  the  days  of  the  Lord's  sorrow  and  trouble  ? 
Do  you  thus  weary  the- Lord  when  he  gives  rest  unto  you  ?  Was 
there  ever  such  mercy  shown,  or  can  there  be  ever  any  greater 
love  upon  earth,  than  for  the  Lord  lo  call  to  a  wicked,  sinful  crea- 
ture, which  deserves  lo  be  banished  forever  out  of  his  presence,  to 
come  unto  him,  enter  into  his  rest,  take  his  fill  of  love.and  re- 
fresh itself  in  his  bosom  in  a  special  manner  all  this  day  ?  And 
therefore  can  there  be  a  greater  sin  above  ground  committed  out 
of  hell  than  thus  to  sin  against  this  love  F  I  do  not  think  that 
the  single  breach  of  the  Sabbath  (as  to  sport  and  feast  inordi- 
nately) is  03  great  a  sin  as  to  murder  a  man,  (ufaich  some  have 
cost  out  lo  the  reproach  of  some  zealous  fur  Ihe  observation  of 
the  Sabbath  day,  truly  the  Lord  knows,)  for  I  believe  their  milk 
Bod  over,  if  thus  they  »aid ;  but  I  speak  of  the  Sabbath 
under  this  notion  and  reHjwct,  and  as  herein  God's  great  love 
appears  to  weary,  sinful,  i-estle.^s  man,  as  a  day  wherein  all 
the  treasures  of  his  roost  rich  and  precious  love  are  set  open  ;  and 
in  this  respect,  let  any  man  tell  me  what  greater  sin  he  can 


1 


imagiiie  tlian  sins  n^inst  the  greatest  love.  The  same  sins 
which  are  eommitled  upon  oiher  dnjs  in  ihe  week  are  then  pro- 
voking sinsj  but  to  commit  [licse  sins  upoa  the  Sabhalli  day  is  to 
douhle  the  evil  of  them.  Drinking,  and  swearing,  and  rioting, 
and  vain  talking,  etc.,  are  sins  on  the  week  day,  hut  they  are 

n  but  single  sins ;  but  these  and  auch  like  sins  on  the  Sabbath 
day  are  double  sins,  because  they  are  now  not  only  sins  against 
Grod's  command,  but  also  against  God's  Subtialhs  loo,  which 
much  aggravates  them  ;  and  yet  men  mourn  not  for  [liese  sins^ 
hod  the  Lord  never  mode  knovrn  his  Sabbaths  to  his  churches 
and  people  in  these  days,  they  might  then  have  had  some  excuse 
for  their  sins ;  but  now  to  profane  them  since  God  hath  made 
them  known  to  us,  especially  the  English  nation  and  people  to 
do  it,  upon  whom  the  Lord  bath  shined  out  of  heaven  with  greater 
light  and  glory  in  this  point  of  (be  Sabballi,  above  any  other 
places  and  churches  in  the  world,  what  will  they  liave  to  say  for 
themselves?  with  what  fig  leaves  will  they  hide  this  nakedness 
before  the  tribunal  of  God  ? 

The  Lord  might  have  hid  his  Sabbaths  from  us,  and  gone  lo 
another  people  that  would  have  been  more  thankful  fur  them 
and  glad  of  them  than  we  have  been  ;  and  yet  he  hath  been  loth 
to  leave  us;  and  do  we  thus  requite  the  Lord?  Surely  he  hath 
no  need  of  the  best  of  us,orof  our  attendance  upon  him  upon  these 
days ;  it  is  only  his  pity,  which,  seeing  us  wearied  with  sorrows, 
and  wearying  ourselves  in  our  sins,  makes  him  call  us  back 
to  a  weekly  rest  in  his  bosom,  who  might  have  let  us  alone,  and 
tired  out  our  hearts  in  our  own  folly  and  madness  all  our  days ; 
and  do  we  thus  requite  the  Lord  ?  Certamly  the  time  will  come 
wherein  we  shall  think  (as  once  Jerusalem  did  in  the  days  of  her 
affliction)  of  all  our  pleasant  things  we  once  had  in  the  days  of 
our  prosperity ;  certainly  men  shall  one  day  muum  for  the  loss 
of  all  their  precious  time,  who  misspend  it  now,  and  (above  .all 
limes)  for  the  loss  of  their  precious  pleasant  Sabbath  seasons 
of  refreshing,  which  once  they  had  given  them  to  find  rest  and 
peace  in  ;  when  t)ie  smoke  of  their  tormenting,  everlasting  bum* 
ing  shall  ascend  forever  and  ever,  wherein  they  shall  have  no 
rest  day  nor  night ;  you  shall  remember  and  think  then,  with  tears 
trickhng  down  your  dry  cheeks,  of  the  Sabbaths,  the  pleasant 
Sabbaths  that  once  you  luid,  and  shall  never  see  one  of  those 
days  of  the  Son  of  man  more  ;  you  sliall  mourn  then  to  see  Abra- 
ham's bo»om  afar  ofi',  and  thousand  Uiousands  at  rest  in  it,  where 
you  also  might  have  been  as  well  as  they,  if  you  had  not  despised 
the  rest  ol'  God  here,  in  the  bosom  of  his  Sabbaths. 

You  shall  then  mourn,  and  wring  your  bands,  and  tear  your 


I 


SASCTIFICATION    I 


lATlI. 


I 
I 


*  hair,  and  stamp,  aiiJ  grow  raad,  and  yet  weep  lo  think  that  if  you 
had  had  a  heart  lo  have  spent  that  very  time  of  the  Subboth  in 
seeking  God,  in  drawing  near  to  God,  iu  resting  in  God,  which 
you  dispend  in  Idle  talk  iind  idleness,  in  rioting  luid  wantoU' 
ness,  in  sports  and  foolii'lineris,  upon  tliia  day.  you  bad  then  been 
in  God'a  eternal  rest  in  heaven,  and  forever  blessed  in  God. 
It  is  said  Jerusalem  remembered,  in  ihe  day  of  her  affliction,  all 
her  pleasant  things  when  the  enemy  did  mock  at  her  Sabbaths; 
and  so  will  you  remember,  wiili  sad  hearts,  the  loss  of  all  your 
precious  bpo^ds  of  grace,  «speci)tlly' then,  when  the  dcvihi,  and 
heathens,  and  damned  outcasts,  who  never  had  the  mercy  to 
enjoy  tbem,  shall  mock  at  Ihee  for  the  loss  of  thy  Sabbaths. 
Verily  I  can  not  think  that  any  men  that  ever  tasted  any  sweet- 
ness in  Christ  or  his  Sabbath,  and  felt  the  unknown  refieshinga 
of  this  sweet  rest,  but  that  they  will  mourn  for  their  cold  afieo- 
tions  to  them  and  unfruitful  spending  of  them,  before  they  die; 
otherwise  never  go  about  to  blear  men's  eyes  with  discourse,  and 
invectives,  and  dbputes  against  them,  or  with  comol  excuses 
for  your  licentious  spending  of  them  ;  for  doubtless  you  taste 
not,  and  therefore  know  not  what  they  are,  and  you  will  one  day 
be  found  to  be  such  as  speak  evil  of  the  things  you  know  not. 
Hear,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish :  is  the'  infinil« 
majesty  and  glory  of  God  so  vile  in  your  eyes  that  you  do  not 
think  him  worthy  of  special  attendance  one  day  in  a  week?  Doth 
>ie  call  you  now  to  rest  in  his  bosom,  and  will  you  now  kick  his 
bowels,  despise  this  love,  and  spit  in  his  face  ?  Doth  he  c&il  upon 
you  to  spend  this  day  in  holiness,  and  will  you  spend  it  in  mirth, 
and  sports,  and  pnslimes,  and  in  all  manner  of  liccntiousneu  ? 
Hast  Iliou  wearied  God  with  thine  iniquities,  and  thjself  in  thine 
iniquities  all  the  week  long,  (for  which  God  might  justly  cut 
thee  off  from  seeing  any  more  Sabbath,)  and  doth  the  Lord 
Jesus  (instead  of  recompensing  thee  thus)  call  you  back  again  lo 
jrour  resting-place?  and  will  you  now  weary  the  Lord  again, 
that  he  ran  not  have  rest  or  quiet  for  you  one  day  in  a  week  ? 

O  that  we  could  mourn  for  tliese  things !  and  yet  walk  abroad 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth  at  this  day,  and  then  say  where  shall 
you  find  almost  God's  Sabbaths  exactly  kept ;  viz.,  with  meet 
preparation  for  them,  delight  in  them,  with  wonderment  and 
thankfulness  to  God  after  the  enjoyment  of  tbem.  Alt  tho 
world  knows  lo  wliom  the  barbarous  Turks  do  dedicate  their  Fri- 
days; the  Jews  also,  how  they  sanctify  their  Saturdays,  to  the 
Lord  Jehovah  indeed,  but  not  unto  the  Lord  iheir  God.  What 
account  the  Papists  put  upon  the  Sabbaths,  not  only  their  writ- 
ings, which  level  it  with  nil  other  holy  days,  hut  also  their  looss 


r 


I 


THE   SANCTIFICATIOX    Of   THK   SA 

practice  in  eporU  and  revelings  upon  this  day,  bear  sufficieot 
witness  ;  and  0  that  we  had  no  cause  to  wa-^h  off  this  spot  with 
our  tears  from  the  beautiful  and  pleusani  t'nce  of  the  glorioiu 
grace  and  peace,  which  ODce  shined  in  the  German  churches,  by' 
whose  graces  we  may  stand  weeping,  and  say.  This  is  your  miser/ 
for  this  your  provoking  sin  !  Scotland  knows  best  her  own  in- 
tegrity, whose  lights  have  been  hurning  and  shining  long  in  their 
clearness  in  this  particular;  hut  England  haih  had  the  name, 
and  worn  ihis  garland  of  glory,  wherewith  the  Lord  balli  crowned 
it  above  all  other  churches.  But  how  halh  that  little  Rock  of 
slaughter,  which  hath  wept  for  il,  and  preached,  and  printed,  and 
done  and  suifered  for  it,  been  haled  and  persecuted  !  Who  have 
been  the  scorn,  and  shame,  and  reproach  of  men,  but  a  company 
of  poor  weaklings,  for  going  out  a  few  miles  to  hear  a  faithful, 
painful  preai-her,  from  those  idle  sheplierdei,  who  either  could 
not  feed  them  with  knowledge  and  understanding  at  bomei' 
or  else  would  not  do  it  through  gross  profaueness,  or  exIremS 
idleness  ?  .  _^ 

And  now,  sinc^Gud  hath  broken  the  yoke  of  their  oppressoran 
and  set  his  people  at  liberty  to  return  to  Sion  and  her  solemn  I 
assemblies,  as  in  days  of  olilf  and  hath  given  to  them  the  desires  I 
of  their  hearts,  that  they  may  now  be  as  holy  on  tbe  Sab^ 
bath  as  they  will,  without  any  to  reproach  them,  at  least  to  coun- 
tenance such  reproaches  of  them  ;  now,  I  say,  when  one  wouM 
_think  the  precious  Sabbaths,  (which  so  many  of  God's  servants 
in  former  time  have  brought  down  to  tiiis  generation,  swimming 
in  their  tears  and  prayers,  and  which  many  in  these  days  have 
so  much  looked  and  longed  fur,)  that  every  eye  should  be  look- 
ing up  to  heaven  with  tliankfulncss  for  these,  and  that  every 
heart  should  embrace  God's  Sabbaths  with  tears  of  joyfulness, 
and  bid  this  dear  and  precious  friend  welcome,  and  lie  and  rest  in 
their  bosom  i  and  so  I  doubt  not  but  that  England  hath  yet 
many  a  corner  full  of  such  precious  jewels,  to  whom  God's  Sab- 
baths are  yet  most  precious  and  glorious,  and  who  can  not  easily 
forget  such  blessed  seasons  and  means  in  them,  whereby  (if  ever 
the  Lord  did  good  udio  them)  they  have  been  so  oft  refreshed, 
and  wherein  ihey  have  so  otl  seen  God,  wherein  they  so  of^  met 
with  him,  and  he  with  them :  but  whose  heart  will  it  not  make 
to  relent  and  sigh,  to  hear  of  late  a  company,  not  of  ignorant 
debauched  persons,  molignants,  prelatical,  and  corrupt  and  camid 
men,  but  of  such  who  have  many  of  them  in  former  limes  given 
great  hopes  of  some  fear  of  God,  and  much  love  to  God's  ordi- 
nances and  Sabbaths  ?  and  now  (what  hurt  tbe  Sabbath's  ordi- 
iiaacei  of  tba  Lord  Jesus  therein  have  done  them,  I  know  nut, 
38  • 


i 


270  THE    SANCTIFICATIOX    OF    TU 


t 


but)  il  would  break  one's  henrl  lo  see  whnt  little  cure  there  is  la 
sanctify  the  Snbbath,  even  by  lliem  who  think  in  Ibeir  judgments 
that  tlie  day  is  of  Gud.  What  poor  preparation  tor  it,  either  in 
themKelTes  or  families !  what  little  cure  to  profit  by  it,  or  10 
instruel  or  catechize  their  families,  and  to  bring  them  also  in  love 
with  it !  what  secret  wearinei^  and  deadheartedneBS  (almost  whol- 
ly unlaiuented)  remain  upon  them !  what  earthly  thoughts,  what 
liberty  in  speech  about  any  worldly  matter,  presently  after  the 
most  warning  sermon  is  done !  that  the  Lord  Jesue  hath  scarce 
good  carcasses  and  outsidea  brought  him,  which  can  not  but 
threaten  more  crows  lo  pick  litem  unless  they  repent ;  and  yet 
this  \e  not  so  sad  ns  to  see  the  looseneaa  of  men's  judgments  ia 
this  point  of  the  Sabbath,  whereby  some  think  a  Sabbath  lawful, 
but  not  necesdRry,  (in  re.Hpect  uf  any  command  of  God ;)  nayi 
Bome  think  it  superstition  to  observe  a  weekly  Subbalh,  which 
should  be  every  day,  (as  they  imagine :)  they  have  allegorized 
God's  Sabbaths  and  almost  all  God's  ordinances  out  of  the  world, 
imd  cast  such  pretended  an tt- Christian  tilth  and  pollution  upon 
Ihem,  that  spiritual  men  must  not  now  meddle  with  them ;  nay, 
verily,  all  duties  of  the  moral  law,  and  fruitful  obedience,  and 
holy  walking,  and  sancliH cation,  graces,  and  humiliation,  and 
such  like,  are  the  eecret  contempt  of  many,  and  the  l>ase  drudg- 
ery for  a  mill  horse  nnd  legal  Cbriatian,  rather  than  for  one  that 
ij  of  on  evangelical  frame  ;  and  herein  Satan  now  appears  wiih 
the  ball  at  his  foot,  and  seems  to  threaten  in  time  to  cari^  all 
before  him,  and  lo  kick  and  carry  God'a  precious  Sabbaths  out 
of  the  world  with  him ;  and  then  farewell  dear  Lord  Jesos,  with 
ail  tby  Bweet  love  and  life,  if  Sabbaths  be  once  taken  from  us 
by  the  blind  and  bold  di^pulings  of  wretched  men:  auihority 
03  vet  upholds  them,  (which  is  no  small  mercy,)  and  the  favor 
of  Clirtst's  sweetness  in  them,  and  the  external  brightness  of  the 
Iieauty  of  them,  do  still  remain  on  many,  with  that  strength  nnd 
glory  that  it  is  not  good  policy  for  the  prince  of  darkness  now 
to  employ  all  his  forces  against  ihe  gates  of  the  Sabbath;  but 
the  time  haaiens  wherein  the  assault  will  he  great  and  Ueree,  and 
I  much  fear  that  for  tlie  secret  contempt  of  these  things,  the 
Lord,  in  dreadful  justice,  will  strengthen  delusions  about  ibis  day 
to  break  forlh  and  prosper;  and  then  pray,  you  poor  saints  of 
God  and  hidden  ones,  that  "your  Highi  may  not  be  in  the  winter, 
nor  on  the  Sabbath  day ;"  but  "  woe  then  to  them  that  give  suck," 
woe  then  to  the  high  ministry  that  should  have  kept  these  galea, 
woe  Chen  lo  tliat  loose  and  wanton  generation  rising  up,  who  think 
such  outward  tbrms  and  observation  of  days  to  be  too  coarse  und 
loo  hiw  and  mean  a  work  tor  tbeir  ennobled  spirita,  which  are 


I 
I 


[ 


THE  aANCTlFlCATIO.V    OP   THE   SAUBATH. 

now  raised  higher  and  nearer  God  than  to  look  much  after  Sab-  ' 
baths  or  ordinances,  gracea  or  duties,  or  any  such  outward  forma; 
for  I  doubt  not,  but  if,  alter  all  the  light  and  glory  shining  in 
England  conc-erning  God'a  Sabbaths,  if  yet  ihey  are  not  thereby 
become  precious,  but  that  tbe  Lord  will  make  them  bo  by  his 
plagues,  if  ihia  sin  once  get  head,  God  will  burn  up  the  whole 
world,  and  make  himself  dreadful  to  all  flesh,  until  lie  hath  made 
unto  himself  a  holy  people,  and  a  humble  people,  that  shall  "  love 
the  dusi,  and  take  pleasure  in  the  very  slones  of  his"  house,  and 
love  the  "  place  where  his  honor  dwells,"  and  long  for  the  time 
wherein  his  presence  and  blessing  shall  appear  and  be  poured 
out  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 

It  is  matter  of  the  greatest  mourning,  that  they,  above  all  othera,  I 
should  trouble  God's  rest,  wherein  perhaps  their  miuIs  huve  found 
so  much  rest,  or  might  have  done ;  that  in  these  limes,  wherein 
the  Lord  Jesus  was  coming  out  to  give  unto  his  house  his  ordi- 
nances, and  unto  his  people  his  Sabbaths  and  days  of  rest  every 
way.  that  now  they,  atiove  all  others,  should  ofler  to  pull  them 
out  of  his  hand,  tread  them  under  foot,  and  hereby  teach  oil  the 
profane  rout  in  tlie  world  to  do  the  like,  with  a  quiet  conscience 
and  without  any  check  by  their  reasonings  ;  that  now  when  God 
09  wasting  the  load,  and  burning  down  its  glory,  for  the  sius 
gainst  his  Sabbaths,  that  just  at  tliis  time,  more  than  ever,  they 
should  rise  up  to  pollute  and  profane  this  day.  Tlie  Lord  grant 
his  poor  people  to  see  cause  at  last  to  mourn  for  this  sin,  that  the 
rest  of  the  Sabbath  may  be  rest  to  their  souls,  especially  in  ihia 
weary  hour  of  temptation, '  which  is  shaking  all  things,  and 
threatens  yet  greater  troubles  unto  all  flesh.  The  Lord  JesDa 
certainly  hath  great  blessings  in  his  hand  to  pour  out  upon  hia 
people,  in  giving  them  better  days,  and  brighter  and  more  beau- 
tiful Sabbaths,  and  glorious  appearances ;  but  1  fear,  and  there- 
fore J  desire  that  this  unwise  and  unthankful  generation  may  not 
stand  in  their  own  way,  lest  the  Lord  make  quick  work,  and  give 
those  things  to  a  remnant  to  enjoy,  wliich  others  had  no  hearts  to 


SUBJECTION  TO  CHRIST, 


IN   ALL  HIS 


ORDINANCES  AND  APPOINTMENTS, 


TUB   BEST   MKAXS   TO 


PRESERVE  OUR  LIBERTY. 


TOOBTHEK  WITH   ▲ 


TREATISE 


or 


INEFFECTUAL  HEARING  THE  WORD ; 

HOW  WE  MAY  KNOW  WHETIIEB  WE  HAVE  UEABD  THE  SAME 

EFFECTUALLY,  AND  BY   WHAT  MEANS  IT  MAY 

BECOME  EFFECTUAL  UNTO  US. 

WITH  SOME  REMARKABLE  FAS8AOB8  OF  HIS  UFB. 


Matt.  xi.  29.  •■-  **  Take  mr  yoke  apon  you,  and  learn  of  me ; 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  ahall  find  rest 
unto  your  •onla/* 


TO  THE  READER. 


One  of  the  sweetest  refreshing  mercies  of  Qod,  to  his  "Sew 
England  people,  amidst  all  their  wilderness  trials,  and  straits 
and  sorrows,  wherewith  they  at  first  conflicted  in  those  ends  of 
the  earth,  hath  been  their  sanctuary  enjoyments,  in  the  beauties 
of  holiness,  where  they  have  seen  and  met  with  Him  whom  their 
souls  love,  and  had  familiar  and  full  converse  with  him,  above 
what  they  could  then  enjoy  in  the  land  from  whence  they  came. 
This  is  that  that  hath  sweetened  many  a  bitter  cup  to  the  remnant 
of  Israel.     The  Lord  alone  led  him,  and  there  was  no  strange 
God  with  him,  was  said  concerning  Israel  of  old ;  and  this  was 
accounted  mercy  enough  when  he  led  them  into  a  land  where  no 
jnan  dwelt,  and  which  no  man  passed  through.    What  Grod  hath 
done  for  New  England  in  this  respect,  and  what  their  sanctuary 
mercies  be,  thou  hath  here  a  taste,  though  but  a  taste.    Thesei 
notes  may  well  be  thought  to  be  less  accurate  than  if  the  author  I 
himself  had  published  them,  and  to  want  some  polishments  and  I 
trimmings,  which  it  were  not  fit  for  any  other  to  add ;  however,  I 
thou  wilt  find  them  full  of  useful  truths,  and  mayest  easily  I 
discern  his  spirit,  and  a  spirit  above  his  own  breathing  in  theinul 

Concerning  the  author,  it  were  worth  the  while  to  write  the 
story  of  his  life. 

It  is  needless  to  speak  in  his  commendation  ;  his  works  p 
him  in  the  gates.  They  that  know  him  know  he  had  as  real  ap^ 
prehensions  of  the  things  of  Grod,  and  lived  as  much  with  GM, 
and  with  his  own  heart,  and  more  than  the  most  of  Christians 
do.  lie  had  his  education  at  Immanuel  College  in  Cambridge. 
The  conversion  and  change  of  his  heart  was  wrought  betimes 

275 


I 

I 


I 


when  he  lived  in  ibe  university,  and  enjoyed  Dr.  -  Preston's 
ministrj',  whereby  God  hitd  the  very  best  and  strength  of  his  part 
nnd  yenra  for  himseir.  ^Vhen  he  vros  Jirgt  awakened  to  look 
after  religion,  having  before  sworn  quietly  in  ihe  stream  of  the 
times,  he  was  utterly  at  a  loss  which  way  lo  take,  being  much 
molested  with  suggestions  of  atheism,  (in  the  depths  whereof 
Junius  was  quite  lost  for  a  time,)  and  moved  and  templed  lo  the 
ways  of  Fumilism  also ;  for  some  advised  him  in  this  condition 
to  go  to  Grindleston  and  to  hear  Mr.  Brierley,  and  being  in- 
formed that  the  people  were  wont  to  find  a  mighty  possessing 
overpowering  presence  and  work  of  the  Spirit  when  ihey  heard 
him,  he  resolved  upon  the  journey ;  but  God  in  mercy  diverted 


. ha vigE  reserved  him  for  .tetter  things.     Yet  he  read  what 


they^aid,  turn  Ihe  books  of  liTli.  amongst  the  rest,  where  meet- 
ing with  this  passage,  ''  Tiiat  a  Christian  is  so  swallowed  up  in 
the  spirit,  that  what  action  soever  the  spirit  moves  him  to,  sup- 
pose whoredom,  he  may  do  it,  and  it  is  no  sin  to  him ; "  this  was 
enough  ;  for  being  against  the  light  of  his  natural  conscience,  it 
bred  in  him  an  utter  abhorrency  of  those  loose  and  vile  ways  and 
1  principles  ever  after.  This  advantage  also  he  had,  that  Dr.  Tuck- 
TlSy  was  then  his  tutor,  whom  he  acquainted  with  his  condition, 
and  liad  Ins  direction  and  help  in  those  miserable  fluctuations 
and  straits  of  his  soul.  Happy  is  the  man  whose  doubtings 
end  in  establishments ;  nil  lam  cerium,  qtidin  quod  de  dubio  eer- 
tum ;  but  when  men  arrive  in  scepticism,  as  the  last  issue  and 
result  ol'  all  their  debates  and  thoughts  of  heart  about  religion, 
it  had  been  good  for  such  if  they  had  never  been  bom. 

After  his  heart  was  changed,  it  was  observed  of  him,  that  his 
abililies  of  mind  were  also  much  enlarged,  divinity,  though  it  be 
chiefly  [lie  art  and  rule  of  the  will,  yet  raising  and  perfectjug 
the  understanding  also ;  which  I  conceive  came  to  pass  chielty 
by  this  means,  that  the  fear  of  God  fixed  him,  and  made  him 
serious,  and  taught  him  to  mcditalc,  which  is  the  main  improve- 
Imcnt  of  the  understanding.  Thereforefsuch  as  came  to  him 
'for  direction  about  their  studies,  he  would  often  advise  them  to 
be  much  in  meditation,  professing  that,  having  spent  some  time 


TO  THE 


277 


.u  meditation  every  day  in  hia  beginning  limca,  and  writiei). 
down  hid  ilioughts,  he  saw  cause  now  to  blesa  God  for  it.  Ile[ 
was  assigned  to.  the  work  of  the  ministry,  at  a  solemn  meeting 
knd  conference  of  sundry  godly  ministers  about  it;  there  were  to 
the  number  of  tweUe  present  at  the  meeting,  whose  solemn  ad- 
Tice  WAR.  Itiat  he  should  serve  the  I.ord  in  the  gospel  of  his 
8on;  wherein  (li«y  liare  been  the  salvation  of  many  a  eoal; 
ftr  Upon  lhi«  he  addressed  himself  to  the  work  with  that  reality 
and  seriousness  in  wooing  and  winning  souls,  that  his  words 
'  made  deep  impressions,  and  seldom  or  never  fell  to  the  ground. 

lie  was  lecturer  a  while  at  Earlescolne,  in  Essex,  (which,  I 
lake  it,  was  the  first  place  of  his  ministry,)  where  he  did  much 
px>d,  and  the  people  there,  though  now  it  is  long  since,  and 
many  are  gone,  yet  they  have  a  very  precious  and  deep  remem- 
brance of  him,  of  the  mighty  power  of  God  by  him  to  this  day. 
But  W,  Laud,  then  Ili.'hop  of  London,  soon  stopped  his  mouth, 
and  drove  him  away,  as  he  did  many  other  godly  ministers  from 
Essex  at  the  same  time.  AAer  this  he  lived  at  Bulterchrome, 
in  Yorkshire,  at  Sir  Richard  Darley's  house,  till  the  iniquity  of 
those  times  hunted  him  thence  also.  Then  lie  went  to  North- 
Ufflberland,  till  eilenct^d  lliere  also ;  and  being  thus  molested 
■ad  chased  up  and  down  at  home,  he  fled  to  New  England,  and 
after  some  difliculties  and  delays,  by  great  storms  and  disDsiert 
U  aea  upon  the  sands  and  coasts  of  Yarmouth,  which  retarded 
his  voyage  till  another  year,  he  errived  there  at  lajt,  where  ho 
wiu  jwsiur  lo  a  precious  flock  at  Cambridge  about  fourteen 
years.  lie  was  but  forty-six  or  forty-seven  years  old  when  he 
died.  His  sickness  began  with  a  sore  throat,  and  then  a  ()uin- 
sy,  and  then  a  fever,  whereof  he  died  August  2oth,  lfi<|)- 
This  was  one  tiling  he  said  upon  his  death  bed :  "  Lord,  t  am  1 
vile,  but  ihou  art  ^righteous."  And  to  those  that  were  about  I 
him,  ho  bade  tliem  love  Jesus  Christ  dearly ;  "  that  little  part 
that  !  have  in  him  is  nu  small  comfort  to  me  now." 

His  manner  of  preaching  was  close  and  searching,  and 
abundance  of  affection  and  compassion  to  hia  hearers.     He  look 
great  pains  in  hie  preparations  for  his  public  labors,  accounting 
VOL.   III.  21 


part    I 

t»k  I  J 


I 


I 


»78  TU    THE    RLADEK. 

it  a  cuwed  ihing  lo  do  llie  work  of  ibe  Lord  negligently ; 
therefore  spending  usually  two  or  three  whole  days  in  preparing 

.  for  the  work  of  the  Subbaih,  had  his  sermons  finished  Uaually  on 

I  Saturday  by  two  of  the  clock.  He  hath  soraelitnes  expressed 
himself  thus  in  public :  "  God  will  curse  that  man's  lalwrs  that 
lumbers  up  and  down  in  Ihe  world  all  the  week,  and  then  upon 
Saturday  in  the  anemoon  goes  to  liis  study,  whenas  God  knows 

p^llP'  '''"'^  were  little  enough  to  pray  and  weep  in,  and  to  get  his 

I  heart  in  frame,  etc."  He  attecled  plainness  together  with  power 
in  preaching,  not  seeking  abstrusities,  nor  liking  to  hover  and 
Boar  aloft  in  dark  expressions,  and  so  shoot  his  arrows  (as  manj 

Iprcacliers  do)  over  the  heads  of  his  hearers. 
fl^^lt  is  a  wretched  stumbling  block  to  some,  that  his  sermons  are 

1  somewhat  strict,  nni,_(asjhey^_leEm^it)  legal;  some  souls  can 
relish  none  but  meal-mouthed  preachers,  wTiocome  with  soft,  and 
smooth,  and  toothless  words,  h/aina  verba  byuini$  virit  ;  but 
these  limes  need  humbling  ministries,  and  blessed  be  God  that 
there  are  any ;  for  where  (here  are  no  law  sermons,  there  will  be 
few  gospel  lives,  and  were  (here  more  law  preaching  in  England 
by  the  nien  of  gifts,  tliei'o  would  be  more  gospel  walking  both  by 

^Ibemselvea  and  the  people.  To  preach  the  law,  not  in  a  forced, 
affected  manner,  but  wisely  and  powerfully,  together  with  the 
gospel,  as  Christ  himself  was  wont  lo  do,  (Matt.  v.  and  elsewhere,) 
is  tlie  way  to  carry  on  all  three  together  —  sense  of  misery, 
the  application  of  llie  remedy,  and  the  returns  of  thankfulness 
and  duty.  Nor  is  any  doctrine  more  comfortiog  than  this  bum- 
bling way  of  God,  if  rightly  managed. 

It  is  certain  the  foundations  of  aiWr  sorrows  and  ruins  to  tlie 
church  have  ever  been  laid  in  the  daj's  of  her  prosperity,  and 
peace,  and  rest,  when  she  enjoys  all  her  pleasant  things.  Tliis 
the  watchmen  of  Israel  should  foresee ;  and  therefore  what  should 
they  do  but  seek  to  humble,  and  awaken,  and  search,  and  melt 
men's  hearts,  and  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears,  that, 
in  the  day  of  their  peace,  they  may  not  sin  away  the  things  of 
their  peace.  There  are  Iberefuie  three  requests,  which  wo 
ith  bended  knee*  for  England,  to 


luld  des 


?  lo  bi-g  of  Goi 


cords  of  I 
allh,  thSr' 


TO  THE    lEEADGK. 


peq)Ctuale  tlie  present  prosperity  and  peace  thereof;  and  let  us 
commend  tbem  to  the  mourning  nnd  praying  ones  amongst  us,  tliat 
iliey  would  be  thn  Lord'a  remembrancers  in  ibese  petitions  :  — 

1 .  A  right  understanding  and  sober  use  of  liberty.  For  when 
people  come  first  out  of  bondage,  they  are  apt  to  be  not  only 
somewhat  fond  of  their  liberties,  but  to  wax  giddy  and  wanloo 
with  liberty,  and  instead  of  shaking  off  the  bloody  yokes  of  men, 
to  cast  off,  at  least  in  part,  the  government  and  blessed  yoke  of 
Christ  also,  tience  it  comes  about  that  a  day  of  rest  from  per- 
secution, which  should  be  a  day  of  liberty  to  the  saints  lo  serve 
,  God,  may  become  a  day  of  great  seduction,  and  of  liberty  to  se- 
ducing spirits  to  deceive,  and  damn,  and  mislead  them  fi-om  the 
truths  and  ways  of  God.  But  the  machinations  of  men,  though 
in  coojuDction  with  the  powers  and  gates  of  hell,  shall  certainly 
full  at  last  before  truth  and  prayer.  And  of  this  b  the  first 
treatise  which  is  seasonably  published. 

To  be  fast  bound  lo  the  rule  gjth  all  the  bonds  and  cords 
God  and  man  is  the  perfection  of  liberty.  Hence  there 
surer  comer  stone  of  ruin  to  a  Oiristian  commonwealth, 
God  will  break  them  with  unparalleled  destructions  by  some 
overflowing  scourge,  when  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart, 
than  lo  think  that  religion  is  none  of  their  liberties;  and  yet  how 
many  sons  of  Belial  are  there  void  of  counsel  I  neither  is  there 
any  understanding  in  them  who  imagine  vain  things,  and  say, ''  Let 
us  break  his  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  his  cords  from  us." 
How  do  men  run  into  extremes,  either  stretching  and  paring 
every  one  to  the  giant's  bed,  and  thereby  denying  liberty  to  the 
saints  to  serve  hiro,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  stature  ia 
Christ,  or  else,  on  the  other  hand,  opening  the  door  so  wide  as  to 
plead  for  liberty  to  all  the  disguised  enemies  and  sins  against 
Christ,  thereby,  instead  of  uniting  the  saints  in  one,  endeavoring 

I  through  a  dreadful  mistake,  lo  unite  Christ  and  Belial  I     It  is  a 
sad  thing  when  a  man  is  come  to  this  puss,  that  he  is  not 
to  resolve  his  conscience  whether  Baal  be  God,  or  the  Lord  b« 
God,  and  therefore  would  not  have  the  worshipers  of  Baal  pun- 


ftl)I« 


TO   THt  KK 

indifterency  and  Irresolution  of  spirit  in  Ibe  things  of  God  ? 
to  the  valley  of  vision,  even  f  o  a  sinful  nation  laden  with  iniquity, 
nnd  led  away  from  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  to  the  host  of 
the  high  ones  that  sit  on  high,  in  the  day  of  his  visitation,  if  ihia 
be  the  npirit  of  these  times ;  for  in  the  day  when  he  visits,  God 
will  visit  for  these  things. 

2.  Tliat  his  word,  especially  the  word  of  his  gospel,  may  be 
precious  and  powerful,  may  run  and  be  glorified  in  England. 
Alas !  m  there  ia  much  preaching,  but  few  serious,  few  heart- 
breaking sermons,  so  there  is  much  hearing,  but  little  effectual 
bearing.  Men  stand  like  the  oaks  of  Bashan  before  the  words 
of  the  God  of  Israel ;  no  ten'or  of  the  Lord,  no  news  of  ever- 
lasting destruction,  no  evidence  of  the  fierce  anger  of  God  upon 
them,  which  bums  down  to  the  bottom  of  hell,  can  take  hold  upon 
their  spirits,  or  awaken  their  consciences,  to  make  inquiries  after 
God  in  this  their  day ;  yea,  if  the  bars  of  the  pit  of  hell  were 
broken,  and  if  the  devils  of  hell  should  come  flying  up  amongst 
lu,  in  our  solemn  assemblies,  from  the  fiery  comers  of  the  pit 
below,  with  everlasting  burnings  about  their  ears,  and  with  chains 
of  darkness  rattling  at  their  heeU,  they  might  fright  men  out  of 
their  wits,  )>erhaps,  or  from  the  acts  of  sin,  it  may  be,  for  a  time, 
hut  it  would  not  work  upon  their  hearts,  their  desperate,  dead, 
besotted  hearts.  The  fools  in  Israel  will  have  their  swing  in 
their  lusts,  and  go  lo  hell  in  a  full  career,  let  God  do  his  best. 
O,  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts !  And  the  main  reason  of  it  is, 
because  they  hear  but  a  sound  of  words,  but  ihey  do  not  hear  the 
Idrd  in  tiiat  word ;  they  hear  words  that  are  spoken  by  God, 
but  they  hear  not,  they  see  not,  God  himself  therein.  If  ever 
thou  wouldest  profit  by  reading  or  hearing,  take  every  word  as  K 
special  message  to  thee  from  God  ;  and  of  this  fruitless  hearing, 
and  the  rules  of  hearing  aright,  is  the  other  treatise. 

3.  Conscience  of  hid  Sabbaths.     Of  which  there  is  an  elaborate 
this  author,  formerly  published  by  himself;  there- 
fore we  shall  add  no  more.     The  blessing  of  Heaven  go  with 
these,  to  make  us  a  willing  people  in  the  day  of  his  power,  lo 
Hibmit  lo  his  word,  and  to  come  under  the  wing  of  the  govern- 


TO  THE  RRADER.  281 

ment  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  esteeming  these  spiritual  mercies  our 
best  mercies,  our  choicest  and  dearest  liberties.  If  ever  the  Lord 
Jesus  (which  mercy  forbid)  should  take  his  doleful  and  final  fare- 
well of  the  English  nation,  as  when  he  laid  the  tombstone  upon 
Jerusalem,  such  as  these  will  be  his  mournings  over  us:  *'0 
Jerusalem  I  Jerusalem  I  thou  that  Idllest  the  prophets  and  bumest 
them  that  are  sent  unto  thee,"  as  they  did  in  the  time  of  Popery, 
^  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,**  (by  my 
word  and  spirit  therein,)  *^  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  the  wings'*  (of  my  special  govemment  and  protection,)  ^  but 
ya  would  not ;  behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."  But 
the  Lord,  who  doth  not  only  make  the  day  dark  with  night,  but 
also  tumeth  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  morning,  even  the  Lord 
avert  these  evils^  and  the  Lord  make  the  English  nation  his 
Hephsibah,  and  the  land  Beulah,  which  is  the  prayer  of  hla 
mourners  in  Sion,  and  of 

Thy  servants  in  Jesus,  and  for  Jesus'  sake, ' 

William  Grsbkhill, 

SiLMUBL  Mather. 
24* 


CHRISTIAN    READER. 


I 


The  precious  memory  of  the  author  of  these  ensuing  sermona 
needs  no  reviving  to  any  graeioua  heart  that  had  any  knowledge 
of  liim.  Yea,  the  world  knows  in  part,  (though  hut  in  a  little 
port,)  by  some  pieced  of  hie  formerly  printed,  (while  lie  was  yet 
wilh  us,)  wbo  iliia  author  was,  what  it  owes  to  God  for  biin,  and 
how  justly  it  might  sigh  over  bis  grave,  with  that  of  the  apostle, 
"  Of  whom  the  world  waa  not  worthy ! "  His  praise  throughout 
all  the  cliurchca  is  far  above  any  addition  by  eo  mean  a  pen  as 
writes  these  lines.  But  it  is  not  lit  that  the  first  page  of  any 
thing  published  after  his  death  (for  I  doubt  not  but  his  ileath  is 
long  ago  publiL-ly  took  notice  of)  should  go  without  some  witness 
of  a  mournful  remembrance  thereof,  which,  indeed,  no  tears  ran 
j  Bufiiciently  lament.  We  who  sometimes  sat  under  his  shadow, 
and  were  fed  from  G!od  by  him,  (the  poor  flock  of  this  shepherd,) 
among  whom  he  lived,  "  testifying  repentance  toward  God,  and 

I  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; "  and  whom  ho  sometimes 
"  exhorted,  comforted,  and  charg;cd  every  one  of  us  as  a  father 
doth  his  children  ;  "  we  can  not  but  carry  sorrow  in  the  bottom  of 
lour  hearts  to  this  day,  that  we  must  here  see  his  face  no  more, 
"Neither  do  we  believe  that  his  loss  remains  with  us  alone,  or  only 
within  the  limits  of  this  remote  wilderness ;  the  benefit  (and 
consequently  the  want)  of  such  a  burning  and  shining  light  is 
of  more  general  concernment  than  we  easily  apprehend,  espe- 
cially in  this  age,  wherein  not  only  many  sit  in  utter  darkness, 
but,  which  is  more,  the  new  light  thereof  is  darkness,  and  tha 


TO   THB   CHRISTIAN  BRADKB.  S88 

love  of  many  waxing  cold.  But  we  must  adl  be  silent  before 
Him  whose  judgments  are  unsearchable.  Neither  maj  we  pre- 
sume to  saj  to  him,  What  doest  thou  ? 

It  is  instantly,  and  not  without  cause,  desired  by  many  that 
such  relics  of  his  labors  as  do  survive  him  may  be  (at  least 
some  of  them)  imparted  to  the  public  To  effect  any  thing  con- 
siderable that  way  is  not  an  easy  or  sudden  work.  But  this 
small  piece  being  at  present  attained,  it  seemed  not  amiss  to  let 
it  pass  the  press.  These  were  some  of  his  lecture  sermons,  1 
preached,  most  of  them,  in  the  year  1 641.  They  are  now  tran-  I 
scribed  by  a  godly  brother,  partly  from  the  author's  own  notes,  I 
partly  from  what  he  took  from  his  mouth.  The  subject  (in 
both  the  texts)  is  of  great  use,  and  needful  for  these  times, 
wherein  there  is  more  liberty  than  good  use  of  it,  and  much  more 
common  and  outwaird  than  saving  and  effectual  knowledge  of  the 
word  of  Grod.  These  posthumous  editions  are  far  short  of  what 
the  author  was  wont  to  do,  and  of  what  the  sermons  were  in 
preaching.  But  though  the  sense  be  not  every  where  so  full,  nor 
every  thing  so  thoroughly  spoken  to,  nor  the  style  so  good  by  far 
as  the  author's  manner  was,  yet  the  intelligent  reader  will  find 
a  precious  treasure  of  truth  in  it,  not  fit  to  be  buried  or  neglected. 
The  prophets  do  not  live  forever,  but  their  words  do.  The  Lord 
make  them  such  ever-living  words  as  may  take  hold  of  all  onr 
hearts,  not  for  judgment,  but  for  mercy ;  for  one  of  these  waji 
they  shall  live,  yea,  rise  up  at  the  last  day. 

March  29,  1652.  ' 


\ 


WHOLESOME    CAVEAT 


FOR  A  TIME  OF  LIBERTY. 


1  Chron.  xiL  8,  "  NeTerthelesa  ther  shall  be  his  le 

know  hi;  Mtrvicc,  and  ihc  service  of  the  kingdan 


rants,  that  thej  mt 
I  or  the  cooMiy." 


The  greatest  part  of  this  chapter  is  spent  in  setting  down 
that  fumoua  war  which  Shi^hak,  king  of  ^gypt,  mode  against 
Behoboam,  king  of  Judah. 

The  cause  of  this  war  in  regard  of  Shisbak  is  not  set  down  ; 
probable  conjecturea  there  be :  Jeroboam  probably  might  be 
treacherous,  who  having  a  party  in  Hgypt,  lest  Kehoboam  shonld 
grow  loo  great,  together  with  some  other  pretended  nronga, 
might  awaken  this  bear  from  bia  den ;  but  in  regard  of  God, 
you  may  Bee  the  reason  set  down,  (ver.  2,)  "  because  tbey  had 
transgressed  against  the  Lord." 

The  time  of  this  war  is  set  down  in  the  Grsl  Terse  —  when  ha 
bad  established  the  kingdom  by  wholesome  laws,  erecting  God's 
worship,  and  countenancing  godly  men,  (3  Chron.  xi.  IG,  17,) 
which  continued  three  years,  and  strengthened  himself  by  forti- 
fied places,  and  munition  lit  for  war,  as  in  the  foregoing  cbapMr 
appears.  Now,  when  he  had  most  peace  and  quiet,  he  and  all 
Israel  suddenly  forsake  the  Lord,  which  was  the  fourth  year ; 
and  in  the  filVh  year  comes  Shishak,  and  with  a  mighty  host 
wastes  all  before  him  until  he  comes  to  the  chief  city. 

Now,  in  verse  the  fifth  and  sixth  is  set  down  the  repentance  of 
the  people,  with  their  princes  especially.  Shemaiah,  who,  no 
doubt,  had  spoke  against  their  idolatrous  courses  before,  lakea 
his  season  when  they  were  low  and  tamed,  and  tells  them  the 
true  cause  of  their  misery.  (Ver.  o.)  Mony  sins  there  we 
the  land,  as  idolatry,  and  whoredoms,  etc.;  yet  the  venom 
"  They  had  forsaien  Ihe  Lord."  Let  the  sin  be  what  it  will  ba^  1 
285 


yet  let  it  be  such  a  one  as  men  forsake  the  Lord  by  it,  that  is 
the  provocalion  ;  hereupon  ihey  humble  iheroselves,  some  cfFect- 
uftlly,  some  hypocrilically,  yet  nil  outwardly,  niid  say  the  Lord 
is  righleous ;  they  extenuate  not  their  sin,  ihey  ky  not  the 
Dame  on  man,  no,  not  on  Shishak,  but  see  ihc  Lord,  justify  his 
proceeilings  :  The  Lord  k  righteous,  we  unrighteous,  ■lihough  it 
were  more  heavy  than  it  is. 

Now,  in  the  seventh  verse,  and  in  the  words  read,  Is  set  (town 
the  mitigation  of  God'a  plague,  and  the  moderation  of  his  chas- 
tisement, "  I  will  not  pour  out  all  my  wrath,"  yet  I  think  it  not 
fit  to  show  perfect  deliverance,  "  I  will  make  them  servants,  to 
let  them  know,'*  etc- 

There  are  two  parts  in  the  words  read ;  — 

1.  The  punishment  or  chastisement  on  Judab  for  forsaking 
the  Lord,  and  backsliding  from  him,  which  is  bondage  and 
privation  of  the   liberty   ibey   had  —  they  most    be    Shishak '» 


2.  The   Lord's  end  ;   it  was  very  gracious  —  "  that  they  may 
know  my  service,"  etc. 
For  explication. 

1.  Wliat  is  meant  by  service  ? 

Atu.  There  are  two  things  in  service :  1.  Government.  2. 
Subjection  ;  cheerful  obedience  to  that  government.  Both  the 
Hebrew  word,  as  also  the  nature  of  the  thmg  itself,  hath  these 

God  sets  up  his  government  over  a  people  ;  his  people  do  or 
should  subject  cheerfully  to  this  government.  By  my  service  is 
therefore  meant  my  government,  and  your  subjection  wrought 
by  me  to  this  government, 

2.  "  They  shall  know,"  1.  Not  by  the  knowledge  of  the  brain, 
for  that  they  know  now,  but  knowledge  of  experience,  as  it  is 
said  in  Ezek.  vi.  ult. :  "When  I  shall  have  made  the  land  deso- 
kte  in  all  their  habitations,  Ihey  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord," 
Now,  what  shall  they  know  of  it  ? 

Ant.  The  dift'erence  between  them,  the  sorrow  of  the  one, 
the  sweet  of  the  other  ;  the  misery  of  the  one,  and  blessedness 
of  the  other  ;  the  bondage  of  the  one,  and  the  liberty  of  the 
other. 

There  might  be  many  things  observed  from  the  words,  bat  I 
note  only  the  general. 

Oluer.  That  when  any  people  of  God  forsake  the  Lord,  and 
cast  off  his  government  over  them,  they  provoke  the  Lord  to 
put  them  under  the  bondage  of  another  government.  They 
that  abuse  God's  liberty  must  be  under  bondage ;  the  Lord  hath 


I 
I 


FOB   A  TIMK   OV   LIBERTr. 

«  kingdom  in  this  world  most  glorioux ;  hence,  when  men  will 
not  be  under  it,  if  they  will  Dot  be  ruled  bjr  him,  they  must  be 
ruled  by  the  whip ;  and  if  ChrJst'a  lawa  CAn  not  bind,  Christ's 
chains  must.  Jer.  v.  19,  "And  it  slisll  come  to  pass  when  ye 
ghall  say,  Wherefore  doth  rhe  Lord  all  lliese  things  unto  uB  ? 
then  shall  lliou  answer  them,  Like  as  ye  have  forsaken  me, 
and  served  strange  gods  in  your  laud,  eo  shall  ye  aerre  strangers 
in  a  laud  that  is  not  yours."  Ps.  cvii.  10,  11,  "Such  ae  sit  in 
darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  tloath,  being  bound  in  affliction 
and  iron,  because  they  rebelled  against  the  words  of  God,  and 
contemned  the  counsel  of  the  Most  High."  £zek.  xx.  24,  25, 
"  fiecause  they  had  not  executed  my  judgments,  but  had  de- 
spised my  statutes,  and  polluted  my  Sabbatlis,  etc.  Wherefore  I 
gitve  them  also  statutes  thai  were  not  good,  and  judgments, 
whereby  they  should  not  live,"  etc.  Zech,  xi.  15,  IG,  "And 
ihe  Lord  said  unUi  me.  Take  unto  thee  yet  the  instrument!  of 
a  foolish  shepherd.  For  lo,  I  will  raise  up  a  shepherd  in 
the  land,  which  shall  not  visit  those  that  be  cut  off,  nor  seek 
the  young  one,  nor  heal  that  that  b  broken,  nor  feed  that  that 
eiandcth  siill,"  etc. 

When  people  break  covenant  with  God,  and  loathe  him,  then 
saith  the  Lord,  1  will  not  feed,  and  then  be  sets  over  them  Idol 
Aheplterds. 

Thin  is  cerluin :  when  the  soul  will  not  subject  itself  U>  God, 
he  goes  about  to  subject  God  to  him,  nay,  lo  his  lusts.  Is.  xliii. 
24,  "  Thou  hast  made  me  to  serve  with  thy  sins."  For  one  of 
them  mu^t  stoop,  and  d  man  would  have  the  Lord  bo  merciful, 
pmiunl,  and  pitiful  to  him,  when  he  is  in  league  with  his  luits; 
(luw,  this  the  Lord  will  not  do.  And  hence,  if  he  does  not 
dcKtniy  him,  ho  withdraws  himself  from  serving  of  the  creature, 
and  hence  other  evils  take  hold  of  it,  and  bring  it  under.  liVlien 
Adnm  stood  and  viixs  for  God,  all  creatures  served  him,  and  the 
riches  of  God'a  goodness  preserved  him,  the  Lord  communicated 
the  tweel  of  his  government  or  service  to  him  ;  but  wheu  turned 
away  from  the  right  wajs  of  God,  now,  if  the  Lord  should 
serve  him  by  governing  of  him  in  goodness,  he  should  serve  a 
lust,  tuid  bow  to  the  creature,  nay,  to  a  lust;  which  is  a  viler 
thing  than  for  one  creature  to  fall  down  and  worship  another. 
Ihcrefore,  now,  hence  it  comes  to  pass,  because  the  Lord  will  not 
l>c  a  servant  to  any  man's  luat,  there  must  he  some  other  govern- 
ment that  must  seize  upon  them.  Hence  set  all  the  saints  in  the 
churches  with  Ilicir  faces  subjecte<I  lo  the  Lord,  his  good  will 
and  righteous  ways,  and  then  his  goodness  shall  tlow  down  upon 
llicm  in  and  tbruugh  Christ ;  for  utlterwisc  we  liuvo  nothing  lo  do 


I 


1 
I 


I 


with  good,  but  when  we  are  set  riglil  for  God.  Hos.  ii.  19, 
"  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  forever,  yen,  I  wil!  betrolh  ihee  unto 
me  in  righteousness,  in  judgment,  in  loriDg  liindness,  and  mercy," 
etc  The  Lord  will  then  command  all  crcaturcB  U>  be  aerviccable 
to  hifl  church  and  people.  (Ver2l,22.)  But  on  the  conirary, 
miHeiy  muat  needs  seize  upon  the  soul  that  doth  cast  off  the 
govemmeot  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Thus  much  for  the  general 
espUcation  of  the  point.     Now,  in  particular,  — 

1.  Wlial  u  this  government  or  serTice  of  God? 

2.  What  is  that  bondage  he  captivates  his  unto? 

3.  Why  doth  the  Lord  do  thus  ? 

Que>.  1.  What  is  this  government  or  service  of  God  which 
being  shaken  off  the  Lord  gives  ihcm  over  to  bondage  ? 

Aiit.  There  is  a  double  government  of  the    Lord   over  hia 

1.  Internal  or  inward,  of  which  our  Saviour  speaks.  (Luke 
ivii.  21.)  The  kingdom  of  God  {saith  Christ)  conies  not  by 
observation  and  outward  pomp ;  "  For  behold  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  within  you."  And  this  is  nothing  else  in  general,  but 
when  the  Lord  doth  by  his  Spirit  in  the  word  of  his  grace  cause 
the  whole  soul  willingly  to  submit  and  subject  itself  (o  the  whole 
will  of  God  BO  far  as  it  is  made  known  to  it ;  this  is  the  inward 
kingdom  of  God  and  government  of  Christ  in  the  aoul.  Bom.  viii. 
14,  "  So  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  are  the  sons  of  God." 
Ps,  cs.  2,  "  The  Lord  shall  send  the  rod  of  thy  strength  out  of 
Zion,"  etc  2  Cor.  x.  4,  "  For  the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are 
not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong' 
holds."  Ver.  5,  "  Bringing  into  caplivily  every  thought  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ."  There  are  mighty  boisterous  distempers, 
but  the  Lord,  when  he  comes  in  his  kingdom,  to  sit  upon  the 
royal  throne  of  the  hearts  of  his  people,  now  they  fly  ;  and 
this  is  the  inward  kingdom  of  Christ,  like  a  poor  subject  par- 
doned and  received  to  favor,  he  is  before  the  face  of  the 
prince  continually  attending  on  him.  Rev.  vii.  14, 15,  "These 
■re  they  which  carae  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed 
their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb-" 
Ver.  15,  "  Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and 
serve  him  day  and  night  in  his  temple,"  etc.  Now,  this  is  meant 
in  part  by  God's  service  in  these  days  :  do  you  think  the  Lord 
eared  for  thousands  of  rams  ?  No,  but  to  walk  humbly.  (Mieah 
vi.)  Did  he  care  for  temple  and  ordinances?  No,  but,  (Is.  i 
19,)  "If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of 
the  land."  Neb.  is.  20,  "  la  these  days  he  gave  them  Us  good 
Spirit  to  instruct  them." 


2.  Extcmul  or  outward,  the  end  and  insligation  of  whtcli  was 
d  help  forwsrd  the  inwnrd ;  for  externtU  ordjaances 
noUiiag  ia  themselves,  n«an  things ;  but  ss  they  are  Bp[>omt- 
ed  and  MBctilied  for  thi«  end,  they  are  Dtost  glonous ;  and  there* 
fur«  Christ  threatens  the  Jews  (Matt,  xxl  43)  that  iho  king- 
dom should  be  taken  from  them.  What  was  that  ?  Surely  not 
inward,  for  that  Ihey  had  not,  but  tlic  outward  and  cxiemol 
means  called  God's  kingdom  ;  all  tlie^e  helps  and  means  shall  ^||l 
taken  from  you.  and  all  laid  ruinous.  Now,  )his  exiernol  king- 1 
dom  of  Christ  is  double.  I 

1 .  The  external  kingdon  or  govemment  of  G!od  by  his  chuigh. 
in  the  administration,  and  execution,  and  eabjectktn  to  the  blesded 
ordinances  of  God,  wherein  the  power  and  kingdom  of  Christ  i 
is  aeeni  and  thus,   (Dan.   ii.   44,   io  ;  vii.  27,)   "It    shall    bel 
given  lo  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  etc.     Not  to  profane  herd»  A 
of  beasts  or  cages  of  undean  birds,  but  to  the  sainls  of  the  Slost     I 
High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  the      \ 
printvs  of  liie  woM  shall  sulyect  themselves  to  this  kingdom       \ 
of  Christ  V 

This  outward  kingdom  Christ  admin i«tercth  amongst  his  ) 
[leoplc  in  thid  world  :  and  this  was  pari  of  the  Lord's  govern-  / 
ment  over  his  people  herein,  though  various  from  our  form  noy,   / 

2.  Of  the  commonwealth  which  may  have  divers  forms,  and   1 
liad  in  ibe  lime  of  Israel ;  but  it  receiving  its  law  from  God  and   \ 
governing  fur  God,  hence  it  was  tire  government  of  God,  and 
aiibjcption    hereunto  was   subjection   and   service   to  God  him- 
self./ And  hence,  when  the  people  cast  off  Samuel,  (1  Sam.  viiL 
7,)    "  They    have   not  rejected   thee,  but   me."     Rev. 
*'  The  kingdoms  of  the  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  ChrisI,  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and 
l-'or  nlihough  ihe  commonwealth  of  Israel  was  made  up  of  the 
church,  and  hence  Jusephus  calls  it  a  theocracy,  where  the  Lord 
governed,  and  yet  the  same  thing  had  divers  foif,  forms  and 
n-spects,  and  hence  there  was  a  diverse  government  then,  and 
faence   made  diverse.    2  Chron.  xix.  5,8,   "  Jehoshaphat  sets 
Judge*  in  the  land  throughout  all  the  fenmd  cities."     Such  is  the 
wildnesB,  holitnesg,  and  carelessness  of  men's  hearts,  that  they  do 
not  only  need  laws,  but  watchmen  over  them,  10  see  they  be 
kept :  and  hence  ibe  Lord  appointed  some  chief,  some  judges  in 
every  ciiy,  and  also  some  in  every  village,  as  by  proportion  may 
t>o  gathered,  (Ex.  xviii. ;)  every  ten  men  hod  one  over  them. 

Now,  this  wa*  the  blessed  wisilom  of  God  to  put  all  into  sweet 
•ubordinalion  one  unto  another  for  himself. 

1.  Everyone  professing  his  name  la  made  for  God, for  Cbriat, 
VOL.  iti  23 


i 


our      ^1 


I 


I 


a  Lord  of  lords,  unto  whom  every  knee  must  bow,"  and  lo' 
wardly  subject. 

2.  IIcDC^  the  Lord  (it  being  not  good  to  leave  man  to  bim- 
Beir)  erects  a  kingdom  of  tbe  cbiirch,  with  his  own  power  and 
RUthority,  and  goTernment  in  it  for  tbat  end. 

3.  Tids  being  poor  and  sbiftless  ogainat  inward  and  outwai-d 
revenge,  hence  tbe  Lord  sets  up  kingdoms  of  the  world,  which 
either  rule  for  this  end,  or  these  ends,  or  not.  If  tbej  do  not,  the; 
are  to  answer  it,  and  shall  one  day  to  Christ,  "  whom  God 
liath  made  head  over  all  things  to  the  church."  (Eph.  i.  22.)  If  . 
they  do,  then  their  government,  judgment,  and  kingdom  ie  the 
Lord's  in  a  special  manner ;  and  hence  break  the  yoke  of  sub- 
jection to  any  one  of  these,  you  cast  off  Christ,  the  Lord's  gov- 
ernment and  service  ;  and  being  so  linked  together,  in  truth  if  you 
break  one  you  breuk  all,  and  this  will  provoke  the  Lord  to  make 
you  kiss  the  clink,  and  to  put  your  necks  under  iron  bondage 
that  refuse  subjection  to  him. 

Quet.  2.  What  is  tbat  bondage  or  other  goverumenl  to  which 
the  Lord  gives  over  his  people  when  they  have  cast  off  his  gov- 
ernment: this  will  provoke  the  Lord  if  the  Lord  be  cast  off,  and 
the  casting  off  the  government  of  Christ  will  bring  tbe  most 
famous  kingdoms,  churches,  and  families  into  bondage:  you  wiil 
say.  What  is  this  bondage  ?  When  is  it  that  the  Lord  takes  his 
season  for  the  execution  of  it  ? 

^n*.  1.  The  Lord  lakes  his  own  times  to  do  it;  these  were  a 
twelvemonth  before  the  Lord  sent  Shishak,  Here  he  was  more 
quick.  Nebuchudnezzar  comes  at  last,  and  many  years  it  is  be- 
fore the  Lord  doth  iL 

2.  The  Lord  is  various  in  working;  as  he  is  wonderful  and 
hath  divers  ways  or  means  of  bondage,  he  hath  more  prisons  and 
chains  than  one. 

1.  Sometimes  the  Lord  opens  the  door  of  a  kingdom  or  stale 
for  the  inroad  of  some  foreign,  or  it  may  be  barbarous  enemy, 
breaking  in  sometimes  by  power,  coming  in  sometimes  by  craft, 
and  then  ruling  like  lions,  which  the  Lord  makes  to  vex  and 
prick  the  people  of  God  ;  thus  here  their  lives  were  spared,  but 
Bberties  lost.  Thus,  Judg.  ii.  13,  14,  »  They  forsook  the  Lord, 
and  served  Baal  and  Ashtarolb  ; "  and  in  verse  14,"  The  anger 
of  tbe  Lord  waxed  hot  again»>t  Israel,  and  he  delivered  them  into 
the  hands  of  spoilers  that  spoiled  tliem."  Ver.  15,  "  Wbiiber- 
■oever  they  went  out,  tbe  hand  of  the  Lord  was  against  them 
for  evil."  And  this  the  Lord  doth  many  times  suddenly,  that 
one  would  never  think  that  ever  the  Lord  should  be  so  sudden  ; 
the  Lord  can  bo  as  quick  to  punish  as  man  to  sin,  and  that 


I 


VOR  Jl 

unexpectedly.     £cd.  ix.  12,  "Mnn  knows  not  his  time,  but  is 
Inken  like  lisli  in  an  eril  net  suddenly."     Lam.  iv.  12,  "The 
kin^loniK  of  the  earth,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world, 
not  have  believed."     Judg.  v.  8,  "  They  set  i 
war  was  in  the  gate^" 

2,  Sornetimea  the  Lord  turns  ibe  edge  of  that  lawful  authority 
God  hath  set  over  them  against  ih^mselTes,  lo  be  a  heavy 
scour;^  from  God  upon  ihem.  Thus  it  was  with  Israel  in  Egypt,  . 
(Ex.  i.  8,  9  ;)  there  arose  n  king  which  knew  not  Joseph,  and 
it  is  said  then  they  were  oppressed.  Thus  Jeroboam,  whom  the 
ten  tribes  chose,  (Hoa.  v.  11,)  he  oppressed  the  people,  he  will 
be  innovating,  and  this  becomes  their  oppression.  Thus  the 
people  under  the  reign  of  degenerate  Solomon,  (tliough  their 
complaint  might  foe  in  part  unjust.)  Such  is  the  venom  of  sin 
and  unsubduedness  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  the  Lord  turns 
light  into  darkness,  and  makes  ua  aching  head  nuitter  of  sorrow 
to  all  the  stale  and  body  of  people.  Eccl.  x.  16,  "  Woe  to  thee, 
O  land,  when  thy  king  is  a  child."  And  one  man  shall  do  a 
world  of  hurt,  one  Shebna  or  Amaziah,  and  this  the  l^rd  doUi 
in  justice  many  limes'for  casting  off  his  government./^ 

9.  Sometimes  the  Lord  gives  a  people  up  into  ihe  bands  of 
one  another  tu  be  mutual  oppressors  of  each  other,  that  a  man's 
neighbor  shall  be  his  oppressor.  Zecb.  xi.  9,  "  I  will  piiy  no 
more  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  I  will  deliver  them  every  one 
into  bis  neighbor's  hands.  I  will  feed  you  no  more  ;  that  which 
dieth  let  it  die,  and  tliat  which  is  cut  off  let  it  bo  cut  off,  and  let 
Ihe  rest  eat  every  one  the  flesh  of  another."  Sometimes  the  Lord 
is  pleased  losendmarvelousslraics  into  a  place,  that  men  are  forced 
lo  imbondagc  ibemeelves  sometimes  by  words  as  bitter  as  death, 
as  sharp  as  arrows ;  the  Lord  is  pleased,  for  the  forsaking  of  his 
righteous  ways,  lo  moke  a  man's  aclf  rip  his  own  bowels,  the  father 
agninst  the  child,  the  mast«r  shall  be  a  scourge  to  the  servant, 
and  llie  servant  shall  be  a  scourge  lo  his  master,  weary  him  of 
liis  life,  the  government  of  the  Lord  iit  a  man's  heart  or  family 
being  cast  off;  (Micah  viL4,  u,)  "  Trust  not  in  a  friend."  No  great* 
er  bondage  in  the  world  than  for  men  jirofcssiog  the  Lord  lo  be 
desperately  set  one  against  another. 

4.  By  taking  from  a  people  all  that  righteous  power  of  gov- 
ernment the  Lord  hulb  set  over  them,  when  a  jieople  despising 
the  Lord  and  inward  government  first,  (for  there  all  begins,)  and 
so  not  prizing  what  they  have,  nor  praying  for  them,  nor  sub- 
jecting to  them,  the  Lord  hereupon  sends  some  sickness,  or  som« 
other  evil,  that  tliey  are  either  suddenly  taken  away,  or  gradu- 
ally;   and   when   they  ore  gone,  all  smk,  or  else  such   cruM 


I 


t 


I 


492  ,      A  wnoLKsosiE  caveat 

CRmagefi,  tbnt  as  Moses  said,  so  s.iylhfj,  "Icnnnot  bear  this  pro- 
pie."  Thus,  (Judg.  xxi.  25.)  "  Hen  did  ntmt  was  riglit  in  iheir 
own  eyes  nben  iLere  naa  no  Iting  in  Israel."  No  slnle  so  niiser- 
-able  OS  an  aosn^iy,  ivties  erety  one  k  a  slave,  because  ereiy 
one  will  be  a  miisler.  Thw,  (Is.  iii.  I,  2,  E.)  "  Be  a  rnler 
tons."  No,  I  will  not  imdertiiie  to  mle.  So  (?Cliron.  xt.  3, 5) 
when  ivilltoDt  a  leaching  priest, then  no  peace  at  ft)],  men  vrill  not 
be  under  govemnient  of  them,  jou  shall  not  have  theia,  they 
shall  rest  in  pem^,  and  you  shall  then  knon  the  nant  of  iliem. 

5,  By  giving  them  over  to  Satan's  and  iheir  own  hearts'  lusts, 
Ihat  seeing  they  will  not  serve  the  Lord,  ihey  shall  serve  their 
lusts  and  Iheir  sine,  tlmt  now  the  Lord  he  hath  left  df  chnstising 
of  men,  nnd  conscience  shall  check  no  more,  prosper,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  go  on  in  thy  sin.  Fs.  Ixxsi.  12,  "  So  I  gave  them 
up  to  their  own  hearts'  lasts,  and  they  walked  after  their  owit 
counsels."  Rev.  xxii.  II,  "Let  him  that  h  lilihy  be  filthy 
nil!." 

When  the  Lord  shall  give  a  man  over  U>  Satan,  not  only  to 
winnow  him,  lo  let  out  the  ciiatf,  and  so  to  make  the  grain  the 
purer,  or  to  butfet  tliem  as  he  did  Paul,  bbt  lo  insnare  them,  and 
hold  them,  that  he  shall  not  only  tempt,  btit  his  temptations  sliali 
lake,  and  not  only  lake,  but  holds  (2  Tina.  ii.  ull.)  "who  arc 
taken  captive  by  bim  at  hia  will ;"  taken  alive  as  a  snare  doth, 
that  now  a  man  is  beyond  the  reach  of  all  means,  only  peradven- 
tlire  Grod  may  give  repentance ;  (Is.  i.  5,)  "  Why  should  ye  be 
stricken  any  more?  ye  will  revolt  yet  more  and  more."  The 
Lord  leaves  smiling  nnd  says.  Go  on  and  prosper  in  thy  sin ;  and, 
which  is  the  worst  of  all,  Satan  shaLI  so  blind  him  and  lianlen  him, 
fill  him  wilh  pride,  passion,  lying,  hatred  of  Uod's  people,  cavil- 
ing against  the  Lord's  ways  of  grace,  shghting  of  his  belters, 
despising  of  wholesome  counsel  from  his  dearest  friends,  that  he 
knows  not  that  gray  hairs  are  upon  him.  And  after  this,  when 
God  Imth  cast  out,  it  nuty  be  the  church  doih  also,  a  most  fearful 
bcmdage  that  the  Lord  gives  snch  a  soul  over  unin. 

There  arc  two  roasona  of  tliis  point  which  I  c«Ucct  only  from 
the  story  in  this  chapter. 

Jieaion  I.  In  regard  o£  the  righteous  judgment  of  God.  It 
it  just  and  equal  that  ho  that  will  not  lie  ruled  by  this  blessed 
Lord  Jesus,  he  sliould  be  ruled  by  his  luets  ;  he  that  will  not  be 
in  subjection  to  a  merciful  Christ,  he  slkould  be  in  bondage  to 
Unmerriful  men  :  this  a  humbled  Iteitrl  wiU  acknowlei^e,  as  these 
do  here.  ( Ver.  G.)  Tlii^y  ai'knawledged  the  Lord  10  be  rigUleous- 
Man  being  fallen,  it  had  lieen  righteous  with  (iod  to  have  left  all 
men  as  the  angels  that  fell  in  chaina  of  darkness  forever.     But 


among  his  church  and  people  tlic  Lord  sends  the  gospel  to  pro- 
cliiim  liberty,  and  with  it  sends  Christ  with  his  Spirit,  to  come  (o 
the  prison  doors  of  poor  sinners,  to  give  rcpe'nlonce  as  well  aa 
remission  of  sins ;  and  oow,  if  Ihey  will  not  come  out  of  their 
bondage,  accept  of  the  Lord's  Uberly,  it  is  exceeding  righteous  to 
deal  with  them  as  we  do  with  prisoners  condemned  to  die  ;  if  the 
prince  comes  to  the  prison  doors,  and  says,  I  am  come  to  give  thee 
thy  life,  nay,  and  here  is  pardon,  nay,  favor,  and  lo  pull  off  thy 
cbains  also  ;  now,  if  he  says,  No,  I  had  rather  be  in  prison,  every 
one  will  say  it  is  just,  and  as  it  was  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  he  lliat 
would  not  go  free  was  to  be  a  bondman  forever.  It  is  very 
righteous  to  give  men  tlicir  own  choice ;  it  is  no  wrong  to  let  them 
hove  their  own  will:  if,  indeed,  the  laws  of  Christ  were  Draco's 
laws,  hard  and  heavy,  there  were  something  to  object;  but  they 
are  most  sweet,  and  for  which  of  all  other  blessings  men  have 
cause  to  bless  him.  (Ps.  cxlvii.  utt.) 

Reatvn  2.  In  regard  of  the  mercy  or  merciful  wisdom  of  the 
Lord  toward  his  church  and  people,  especially  his  peculiar  ones, 
that  hereby  they  keep  the  closer  lo  tlic  Lord,  set  a  higher  price 
u[>on  the  rules  and  govemmenl  of  the  Lord,  love  his  kingdom  the 
more,  and  the  liberties  thereof,  and  use  them  belter  when  they 
have  them  again,  so  here,  "  that  they  may  know  my  service,"  etc 

1.  How  sweet  it  is.  Experience,  we  say,  is  the  mistress  of 
fools ;  such  is  the  foolishness  of  men's  hearts  that  men  are  many 
limes  never  truly  taught  a  truth  till  they  arc  taught  it  by  sense, 
(Prov-  V.  11,)  "and  ihou  mourn  at  lost  when  thy  fiesh  is  con- 
sumed :  "  tell  a  man  of  all  the  glory  of  the  saints,  they  never  un- 
derstand it  till  they  feel  it ;  tell  men  of  the  woe  of  their  ways, 
they  will  not  believe  it  till  they  see  it.  Ps.  xxxii.  9,  "  Be  not 
as  the  horse  or  mule,  that  hath  no  understanding,  whose  month 
must  be  held  in  with  hit  and  bridle."  IIos.  x.  1 1,  "  Ephraim  ia 
like  a  heifer  that  ts  laughu"  Like  untamed  horses  that  will 
cast  their  rider,  unless  they  be  held  under  and  backed,  and  then 
they  are  gentle,  so  it  is  here  ;  and  truly  it  is  long  before  a  man 
can  learn  the  sweet  of  Christ's  government :  hence  Israel  must 
be  long  in  Egyptian  bondage,  and  many  long  miseries,  go  that,  if 
there  be  either  justice  or  mercy  in  the  Lord,  he  will  do  this,  and 
this  point  shall  be  true. 

Cm  I.  /  Hence,  then,  see  that  the  greatest  liberty  anil  sweet-  ', 
est  liberty  is  to  be  under  the  government  of  Christ  Jesus,  although 
men  do  not  think  so  ^hence  the  Lord  tells  thera  here  "  they  shall 
know  my  service : "  they  might  have  replied.  We  do  know  it.  No, " 
till  they  be  in  bonds  tliey  know  it  not,  cor  can  not  learn  it.  So 
it  is  now;  and  bencv,  let  men  observe  while  they  live  loosely,  and 


I 

I 
I 


A   WHOLESOME   CAVEAT 

e  guided  by  their  own  wisdom,  for  their  own  ends,  according 
I  to  tbeir  own  will,  Bt  pera  riven  I  urea,  at  rovers,  bb  they  please, 
Ihey  do  think  this  liberty  very  sweet ;  and  il  is  beller  than  to  be 
curbed  in.  But  let  (be  I.ord  strike  an  arrow  id  the  lienrt  of 
these  wild  bucks  that  have  broke  park  and  pale,  send  affliction 
and  an  iron  yoke  of  sorrow  upon  lliem,  or  distress  of  conscience, 
if  there  be  any  sense  and  feeling  left,  they  will  bemoan  them- 
selves, and  say.  I  did  ihink  my  liberty  sweet,  but  now  I  see  it  is 
bitter  in  a  sinful  way :  und  the  Lord's  way  was  most  sweet,  by 
their  own  confession.  Hence,  (Ps.  ii.  3.)  "  Let  us  break  their 
bands,"  etc.  But  O.  now  hence  learn  this  truth,  and  digest  it 
thoroughly,  that  the  greatest  liberty  lies  here.  Do  not,  in  thy 
■  judgment,  think  Christian  liberty  liea  in  being  freed  from  the 
law  as  a  rule  of  obedience  in  respect  of  the  matter  of  it  to  bo 

ft  thousand  sori-Qws  with  it  and  griefs,  yet  it  is  sweet.     Christ's 

"  yoke  (Matt.  xi.  SO.)  is  easy,  and  hia  burden  light."    What,  when 

not  a  bole  to  hide  his  head  in,  wb^n  a  reproach  of  men,  a  worm 

gnd  no  man,  when  he  bore  the  Fatlier's  wrath  ?     Yes,  when  he 

r  iras  meek  under  it,  {"  Not  mine,  but  thy  will  be  done,")   it  was 

Ir  then  most  sweet.     1  Kings  ix.  21,  22,  To  be  a  servtuit  to  Sol- 

.  omon  is  do  bondage.     Ps.  cxix.  32,  "  I  will  ruu,  when  thou  shalt 

enlarge  ray  heart." 

Ute  2,     Hence  see  the  reason  why  the  Lord  hath  deprived 
,  his  churches  of  their  liberty,  and  his  government  over  tliem  at 
I  randry  times,  and  hatli  put  them  under  iron  yokes  and  bonds,  and 
'i  sore  pressures  :  the  reason  is  shown  ;  they  have  either  openly  or 
I  jnore  secretly  cast  off  the  government  of  the   Lord ;  here  halh 
been  the  very  wound,  the  ail  of  all  churches  famous  und  glori- 
ous.   Ps.  Ixxxi.  14,  "  0  that  they  had  heitrkened !  I  should  then 
soon  have  subdued  their  enemies."     The  cause  is  not  so  hard  to 
find  to  a  discerning  spirit  who  is  privy  in  any  measure  to  the  coun- 
sels of  God.  1  Kings  ix.  8,  9,  Solomon  hath  a  promise  that  "the 
Lord's  eyes  and  heart  shall  be  to  his  people  "  which  are  under 
him :  but  if  once  they  slip  the  collar,  then  woe  ;  and  why  ?  "  Be- 
cause they  forsook  the  Lord,  that  brought  them  out  of  Egypt ;  " 
they  bad  liberty,  but  they  cast  it  off. 

What  do  you  think  was  the  moving  cause  of  all  those  bloody 
persecutions,  when  the  blood  of  dogs  was  more  precious  than  of 
Christian  churches?  Were  not  they  godly?  "Yes,  I  do  not 
doubt  of  it.  But  as  it  was  liere,  though  humbled  they  must  lie  in 
bondage,  because  they  had  cast  off  the  government  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Am)  hence  in  the  apostle's  time  evil  limes  were  come, 
awl  Apostasies  irom  the  truih,  and  because  it  was  kaig  befera  lliey 


xntE  OF  LiBEnrr. 


were  low  enough.  Amibence,  (Rev.  vi.)  till  the  Gfih  Eeal  wu 
opened ;  no  crjiiig,  as  it  wa~^  with  Israel  in  bondAge,  do  pruyer 
to  purpose,  and  because  ihe  Lord  saw  tbey  would  ubuac  all  liber- 
ties if  they  had  [hem.  And  hence  in  ConBtnatine'a  time,  when 
peace  came  in,  contention  came  with  it,  and  so  abused  all,  that 
their  peace  was  tteir  poison.  And  hence,  in  the  primitive  churohea, 
they  began  to  cast  off  tb«  government  of  tlie  Lord  Je^us 
raurings  there  were  ;  hence  came  persecution  ;  hut  they  ' 
precious  people,  and  made  blessed  use  of  iL  And  the  Lord 
couples  their  chief  persecution  with  their  resL  And  it  is  said) 
(Acts  is.  31,)  "  Then  had  the  cburcbea  rest,"  etc. 

And  what  do  you  think  of  the  reiiaon  of  the  long  reign  of  An- 
tichrist, exalting  himself  above  God  and  all  tliat  is  called  God, 
bringing  tlie  church  under  llie  heaviest  bondage  for  body  anit 
soul  that  ever  the  ^rth  saw?  Men  did  not  love  the  I rutli, either 
speculative  lo  guide  their  minds,  or  practical  to  rule  their  wills  ( 
atid  hence  left  to  this  day.  -. 

What  is  the  cause  of  bleeding  Germany's  woe  ?     O  poor  Ger- 1 
many !  whence  the  gospel  lirst  brake  out  in  its  full  strength,  that 
now  it  is  a  field  of  bloo<l,  that  men  in  wooita  like  satyn  are  afraid 
of  men,  and  men  in  cities  glad  to  eat  the  entrails  of  beasts,  and 
sometimes  the  flesh  of  their  own  babes,  lo  preserve  tlieir  lives. 
What,  was  there  no  evil,  but  the  common  condition  of  the  ehureti   r 
to  be  under  the  cross?     Ask  them,  ibey  can  not  tell  what  aila   | 
them,  but  curse  the  emperor  and  Swedes,  etc.     O,  think  uf  it  with 
sorrow,  in  secret,  for  them  that  know  it  not  themselves,  ihey  have 
secretly,  I  say,  secretly  cast  off  the  government  of  a   mei'ciful  i 
Christ,  and  hence  are  under  the  hand  of  unmerciful  men.   '      .J 

What  is  the  cause  in  our  native  country,  not  withstanding  all 
prayers  and  tears  no  deliverance  ?  Truly  men  do  not  ktiow  it, 
but  the  I^rd  sees  it,  they  know  not  bow  to  use  tlieir  liberty. 

And  for  ourselves,  what  sliuU  I  say  ?  I  can  not  but  bleu  God, 
and  wonder  lo  see  how  it  is  with  many,  and  rejoice  to  see  many 
precious,  holy  ones,  lo  whom  one  day  in  God's  court  is  sweeter 
than  a  thousand  elsewhere  ;  but  I  must  profess,  and  can  not  but 
niouni  tor  others,  men  that  were  eminent  under  bondage,  but 
never  worse  than  here  ;  as  if  the  Lord  should  say.  Look,  here 
be  your  emioenl  ones;  look,  and  fear,  and  mourn,  you  ministers 
of  my  house  ;  here  .be  the  people  you  hod  (bought  had  been  con- 
verted, and  that  of  all  others  such  a  one  would  never  have  lullen 
so ;  one  an  opinion  lakes  him,  anolhf^r  a  lot,  nnotlier  loose  company, 
another  liis  lust,  anuther  goes  proud,  another  6erce,  another  mur- 
muring. Wbia,  (bould  1  name  all  ?  O,  that  my  words  might 
be  healing  I  etc.  ' 


I 


\ 
I 


Use  3.  HencH  see  what  will  become  of  iis 
under  the  government  of  llie  Lord,  it'  ever 
ciiher  inward  or  outward,  or  both.  We  are  not  dearer 
tliun  liU  iieoplt'  Israel  liere,  nay*  Judali.  When  old  Urael,  iha 
grcut  and  numerous  tribes  of  Israel,  lind  set  up  culves.  Utile 
Judah  and  Uenjainin  received  the  priests;  and  jet  they  fell, 
and  were  in  bondage.  I  know  we  nre  not  yd  in  boniiuge ;  yet 
it  is  not  more  unsensonable  to  apeak  now  than  for  ibe  Lord  to 
Solomon.   (I  Kings  ix.  1.) 

Que»l.  But  there  being  much  unsubducdness  in  tlic  hearts  of 
tlie  best,  how  shall  one  know  when  there  be  such  sins  for  which 
the  Lord  will  cast  from  under  bia  governmeni? 

Am.  1.  When  men  do  not  lonihe  their  own  hearts  for  the 
unprofitnbluness,  but  loathe  God's  ordinancea  sei^relly,  and  grow 
weary  of  ihem  bb  of  iheir  bm-dens,  because  of  the  unprofitable- 
ness of  them;  when  a  jwople  find  not  that  special  good  by 
thera  wbicli  recompenseth  all  losses,  nnd  so  prize  ihem,  but  lay 
blume  on  them,  liecnuse  unfruitful  to  them.  (MaL  iii.  13.)  He 
speaks  to  a  people  got  out  of  captivity,  "  Your  words  have  beea 
fllout  against  me ; "  no,  say  they,  "  It  is  in  vain  to  eerve  the  Lord ; 
what  protit  is  tiiero  in  this?"  You  must  conceive  they  had 
many  losses,  were  very  poor,  (as  ver.  11,)  a  temptniion  which  a 
proud  heart  can  not  endure  above  any  ;  here  is  now  no  profit  in 
mourning,  fiisling,  etc.,  and  God's  own  people  began  to  think  so  ; 
and  hence,  (ver.  10,)  "Then  they  spake  ofien  one  to  another;" 
there  was  good  efii;ct  of  bis  sermon.  Now  what  follows  ? 
Chapter  iv.  1,  Hence  the  wicked  shall  come  and  cut  off 
branch  and  i-oot  in  Aniiochua's  time;  there  is  a  burning  day  a-com- 
ming,  tliat  shall  burn  down  house,  root  and. branch;  and  hence, 
<Matt.  xxi.  43,)  "The  kingdom  shall  be  given  to  them  that 
bring  forth  fruit."  You  will  say.  We  do ;  no,  lliy  own  raoulh 
shall  condemn  thee :  you  do  not ;  you  find  no  good  by  all  ths 
onlinanees  of  God,  and^hence  come  those  quesiions  ;  what  war* 
,  rant  for  such  an  ordinance  ?  The  bottom  is,  they  never  felt 
good  of  it,  and  hence  grow  weary  of  it.  Well,  if  it  be  your 
burden,  ihe  Loi'd  will  ease  you  of  it. 

2.  When  you  see  men  (professing  the  fear  of  God)  mutually 
naturally  contentious,  and  continuing  so  ;  I  say  contentious  with 
eainis  which  they  say  they  love,  and  which  they  are  by  cove- 
nant bound  lo  love,  either  from  some  conceived  wrong,  and 
hence  can  not  forgive  as  Christ  doth  thera ;  or  from  a  preju- 
dicate  groundless  opinion,  They  care  not  for  me,  nor  I  for  ihem; 
or  from  a  spirit  of  scornful  censoriousness,  what  are  such  and 
snch?  or  because  di^la^led,  because  of  some  reproof  in  their 


I 


b 


FOR  A   TIME    or  LIBKRTr.  297 

or  by  Bome  opinion,  or  hj  eome  worldly  convenienc)',  or 
laying  out  lots,  or  rc^lraiot  of  some  liberty,  etc.,  or  becuuse  of 
wmc  fin ;  now  cnii  sit  and  censure ;  and  I  say,  when  thig  is 
tnuliiul  1  for  a  godly  man  may  be  conlendL-d  with,  but  be  prays 
nnil  mouma  and  pilies,  unless  it  be  at  some  time,  bul  when  it 
slioll  conlinunlly  abide  so  fierce  and  implacable,  (Ecclcs.  vii.  9.) 
"  Anger  resteth  in  tiie  bosom  of  foots."  When  a  miui  shall  be 
glad  (^  an  occasion  of  difference,  that  so  he  may  depart  and 
have  something  lo  quiet  con»cience  for  breacli  of  covenniit, 
that  there  can  be  no  healing,  but  bcllira  of  pigs  are  more  dear 
than  bowels  of  sainis,  and  when  quiet,  upon  the  lea^I  occasion 
apt  to  pick  bole^and  quarrel:  now,  it  is  time  for  the  Lord  to 
give  over  to  another  governmenL  Zech.  xi.  14,  15,  When 
brotherhood  is  broken,  then  an  idol  shepherd  n  set  up.  Ex,  ii^ 
Mosea  was  sent  to  deliver  Israel,  but  he  Gnds  two  Hebrews, 
oppressed,  striving,  and  must  not  be  checked  neither;  well  then 
farewell  deliverance  if  you  be  of  that  spirit;  you  shall  love  one 
another  better  if  ever  the  Lord  dolh  tlrnt  for  you.  It  hath  been 
the  wbdom  of  some  princes,  when  their  subjects  have  been  at 
civil  wars,  lo  call  them  forth  to  a  common  enemy,  and  there 
they  can  agree.  0  brethren,  there  is  no  sin  like  ibis,  and  yet 
none  »o  slighted.  You  shall  know  what  it  is  either  by  being 
yoked  under  enemies  or  sins ;  the  first  of  these  breaking  bonds 
of  union  to  Christ,  the  other  with  hi^  members. 

Cht  4.  Hence  see  the  reason  why  many  men  are  delivered 
up  lo  the  bondage  of  their  own  lusts,  the  most  snd  bondage  and 
power  of  Satan,  who  have  seemed  to  be  delivered  from  it; 
truly  they  have  cast  off  the  government  of  the  Lord.  /  Hen 
wonder  why  in  this  country  men  are  more  vile  than  ever  they 
were,  men  that  gave  great  hopes :  the  reason  is  this  i  they  have 
iecmud  to  be  under  Christ's  government,  but  secretly  cast  it  off: 
and  hence  filthy  and  vile  lusts  are  tlieir  apparilo»  and  pursui- 

Objuet.  The  saints  fet;l  a  bondage;  how  shall  one  know  the 
dilicrence  ? 

AnM.  The  first  and  greatest  inlhralhnent  is,  when  Satan  and 
sin  so  rule  as  that  they  know  tlicm  not ;  this  is  lamentable,  that 
like  those,  (John  viii.  33,)  when  Christ  told  them,  if  they  con- 
tinued ill  the  truth  it  should  make  tliem  free,  they  would  not 
believe  that  ever  Ihey  were  iu  bondage.  Su  here  a  man  ihinka 
himself  free  when  he  is  a  slave,  thus:  (Fs.  Uxxi.  13,]  "God 
gave  them  up  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  they  were  led  by 
their  own  counsels."  The  saints  may  be  much  carried  away  by 
Ac  power  of  batan's  temptsUions,  but  never  so  far  as  to  think 


I 


I 


A   WHOLESOME 

their  bondage  is  llicir  freedom,  and  to  have  rensons  and  argU' 
menla  prevailing  against  the  good  ways  of  GckI's  gract,  and  to 
have  reasons  to  mainiaio  their  sinful  eouri^es,  and  ihat  is  in  sucli 
as  have  wit,  and  parts,  and  knowledge,  wliich  through  the  right' 
eotiE  judgment  of  Giod  are  left  bo  far  to  abuse  it  as  to  moke  uae 
of  it  to  maintain  their  sinful  lusts. 

2.  When  men,  if  they  see  their  bondage,  yet  have  no  heart  to 
oome  out  nf  it,  in  using  all  raeans  for  that  end.  When  llie  will 
is  in  captivity,  no  captivity  like  it,  no  galley  slave  like  it :  a  child 
of  Grud  hath  a  bondage  and  is  led  into  eaptivily ;  but,  O  misera- 
ble man  !  he  cries  ;  but  these  (Prov.  svii.  10)  "  have  a  price  in 
their  hand,  but  no  heart  to  make  uae  of  it."^  Ezra  i.  5,  ^.  So 
many  wliose  hearts  the  Lord  stirred,  they  gat  up  to  go  to  Jeni- 
satem."  But  the  Lord  never  stirs  the  hearts  of  these  poor 
creatures  ;  they  know  and  fear,  yet  have  no  heart  to  get  out  of 
that  condition,  nay,  rather  willingly  are  bo.  They  sell  iheniBelves 
to  their  lusts,  and  sins,  and  Satan.  Here  is  (sailL  Satan)  this 
gain  ;  neglect  prayer  for  it,  tell  a.  lie  for  it,  break  covenant  for  it, 
lose  fliy  peace  for  it :  here  is  this  honor  aild  credit ;  look  big  on 
it :  here  is  thia  estate ;  carry  thy  counI«nance  high,  and  thus  ap- 
parel thyself  with  these  trappings,  walk  thus  with  thy  boots 
Preach-tike :  here  is  this  pleasure  and  mirth ;  keep  thou  ihia 
company,  loone  thy  heart,  neglect  thy  God,  give  thyself  over  to 
it :  here  is  this  ease ;  defer  thy  repentance,  be  cold  in  prayer, 
neglect  thy  family ;  and  a  man  sells  himself  to  his  lust,  pleasures, 
and  honors ;  thou  art  thus  provoked,  and  therefore  now  thou 
must  fi'eC,  and  murmur,  and  rage,  and  hold  thy  own,  and  so  ease 
thy  henrt:  thus  men  set  themselves  to  sale  willingly. 

3.  When  men  hiive  some  heart  to  come  out  of  it,  but  the  Lord 
leaves  men  to  an  indifferency,  and  consequently  to  apostasy,  as 
it  was  with  Agrippa  almost  persuaded,  and  like  the  Israelites 
that  refused  to  go  into  that  good  land,  (Num.  xiv.,)  and  here- 
upon the  Lord  was  wroth,  and  said  they  should  not,  but  they 
repented  and  would  fain  liave  had  some  pity  showed  in  regard  of 
their  misery,  but  iheir  enemies  fell  upon  them  and  desti'oyed 
them ;  all  the  plea  of  the  Aiminians  is  for  this,  which  is  nothing 

^—  else  but   men's  misery.     Luke  xiv.,    Those  that  were  invited 

^L  made  their  excuses,  itnd  said,  "  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it ; "  but 

^B  found  no  necessity  to  come  to  Christ.     Now,  the  saints,  the  Lord 

^B  never  leaves  them  to  a  spirit  of  indifferency,  but  keeps  them  in 

^1  a  spirit  of  necessity.     I  must  come  out  of  tliis  miserable  condi- 

^K  tion,  saith  the  poor  soul ;  ihey  say  no%  Flesh  is  weak,  but,  I  must 

^V  have  help.     (Pb  ex.)    Because  it  is  "the    day  of  the  Lord's 

^ft  power,"  Ihey  must  not  rest  contented  without  help ;  and  if  the 


I 


I 


Ijord  delays  them,  and  bears  not,  thnj  will  follow  ihe  Lord  so 
much  (lie  harder. 

4.  If  they  hove  any  resolution  to  come  out,  and  think  it  must 
not  be  thu?,  and  purpose  never  to  live  thus  again,  yet  notwiih- 

.  standing  all  their  purposes  and  resolutions,  they  fall  again,  and 
never  get  any  real  coiiquesl,  iheir  untamed  hearts  and  wills  aro 
never  a  wUii  more  aubdued.  Is,  Uiii.  7,  8,  "  For  lie  said.  Surely 
they  are  my  people,  children  that  will  not  lie.  So  he  was  their 
Saviour ;  but  they  w>on  rebelled,  and  vexed  his  Holy  Spirit ; "  their 
wills  were  never  subdued.  But  now  the  saials,  either  the  Lord 
preserves  them  from  such  fulls  and  apostasies  ;  or  if  they  do  dC' 
part  frora  the  Lord  by  reason  of  the  prevailing  power  of  any 
lempialion,  they  ever  get  rcjd  conquest  by  their  fall ;  their  sinful 
corruption  thereby  gels  its  deadly  wound.  (Rom.  xi.  10.)  Tbeir 
backs  are  not  always  bowed  down,  but  the  Lordraiselh  their  bowed 
down  spiriiii,  (Ps.  culv.  14,)  and  upholdeth  Iheir  spirits  for  them 
when  Ibey  think  they  shall  one  day  fait  by  llie  hand  of  such  Saul* 
like  sins  and  dislempers.  A  carnal  heart  may  carry  a  fair  pro- 
fession, and  be  in  snbjeclion  to  Christ  for  a  time  ;  but  his  back 
stands  always  bowed  down  under  his  profesition  ;  il  U  h'ln  bardeti, 
and  hence  al  last  he  easts  it  off  as  a  man  doth  his  wearisome  bur- 
den i  but  on  the  contrary,  a  child  of  God  being  indeed  weary  of 
his  sin,  and  carrying  that  up  and  down  with  him  as  his  burden, 
wilb  his  soul  bowed  down  in  the  sense  of  his  own  vilencss,  by  . 
this  means,  through  the  help  of  Christ,  at  last  he  comes  to  get 
real  conquest  over  his  sin,  and  oast  it  off. 

5.  When  the  Lord  in  this  case  lets  them  alone  without  inward 
or  outward  troubles,  this  is  a  fearful  sign.  Hosea  iv.  17, 
"  Ephraim  is  joined  to  his  idols :  let  lum  alone ; "  the  Lord  will 
take  no  more  pains  with  them  ;  he  is  wearied  out  with  striving. 
Is.  i,  5,  "  Why  should  ye  be  stricken  ?  ye  will  revolt  yet  more 
and  more  ;"  when  the  Lord  sees  men  the  worse  for  his  merciful 
corrections,  he  deals  like  parents  that  have  striven  long  with  tlieir 
children,  and  can  do  no  good  on  them  ;  they  then  resolve  to  let 
them  take  their  own  course,  and  will  own  them  no  longer  to  bo 
of  their  family :  the  Lord  never  deals  thus  long  with  bis ;  but  if 
their  sin  will  not  waste  by  words,  the  Lord  will  then  try  what 
chains  will  do;  and  now  they  shall  And  good,  now  they  sliall  re- 
member their  backslidings  and  apostasies  from  God,  and  their 
impeniiency  in  sin,  in  secret  sins,  especially  in  the  days  of  their 
[teace  and  prosperity  ;  now  the  Lord  will  make  sin  as  bitter  as 
ever  it  was  sweet.  0,  consider  ibis,  you  that  are  prosperous  ;  and 
because  the  Lord  is  good  to  you,  therefore  you  tbink  the  Loril 
likes  well  of  your  ways.     No  greater  plague  than  for  the  Lord 


I 


800 


.KitOMK   CiVEAt 


I 

I 


(o  give  a  mail  peace  in  h'm  sin ;  or  if  the  Loiil  begios  to  afflict 
thee  in  thy  naine,  or  estate  begin  lo  be   blasted,  and   thi 
see  Gtiil'i  hand  on  thee,  and  knowest  it,  and  j'et  lliou  remainest 
unhiimbled,  this  ia  a  sign  ibou  art  under  the  bondage  of  thy  sin. 

Cm  S.  For  examination,  wliether  tve  do,  or  when  a  people 
do  cast  off  the  government  of  llie  Lord  and  destroy  his  kingdom, 
it  is  needful  to  know  the  ain,  tliat  we  may  prevent  the  misery  ; 
and  it  is  certain,  let  New  England  be  watchful,  and  make  sure 
here  to  advance  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  to  keep  the  riglit  and 
government  in  his  hand,  and  you  shall  have  the  blessing  of  God 
and  his  ordinances,  peace  and  mercy  in  your  times,  and  contin- 
ued to  your  children ;  for  "  bis  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdAm, 
and  of  the  increase  of  his  kingdom  there  is  no  end ; "  and  on  the 
contrary,  if  New  England  cast  ofl' the  government  from  over  them, 
■nd  refuse  his  service,  the  Lord  will  then  lake  the  kingdom  from 
you,  and  you  shall  then  know 
Mow,  because  Christ's  governin 
outward  in  church  and  in  stale, 

I  shall  let  you  know,  1,  when  the  inward  kingdom  of  Christ  is 
set  up,  and  when  it  is  rased  down,  which  I  shall  do  by  giving 
you  a  brief  view  of  the  nature  of  it,  and  wherein  it  consists,  and 
so  you  may  the  belter  judge  of  your  own  hearts  in  ihis  particular. 
Ah  Satan  halh  an  inward  kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  those  that 
Ub  without,  so  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  an  inward  kingdom  in  ilie 
hearU  of  all  his  sainls.  Col.  i.  1 3,  -  Blessed  be  Giod  "  (sailh  the 
apostle)  "  which  hath  translated  us  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son," 
whieh  is  very  spiritual,  little  seen  ;  a  man  may  be  under  all  out- 
ward government,  and  yet  nought  here  j  and  therefore  attend  : 
this  inward  kingdom  therefore  consiiils  in  four  things,  or  when 
the  whole  soul  submits  itself  to  God  in  ihesc  four  particulars :  — 

1.  When  the  whole  soul  gives  entertainment  unio  the  Lord 
himself  to  come  into  it ;  for  if  a  people  shall  say  they  are  under 
such  a  government,  and  yet  will  not  admit  the  prince  himself  lo 
come  amongst  them,  but  keep  him  out  of  the  kingdom,  ihey  cost 
off  his  government  and  his  kingdom. 

2.  When  the  whole  soul  ctoseth  with  the  whole  willof  the  Lord  ; 
for  if  A  people  ahali  receive  a  prince  amongst  ibem,  but  he  shail 
make  no  wholesome  laws  to  govern  them,  but  will  be  led  by  their 
own  wills  and  lusts,  they  pull  down  his  kingdom. 

3.  When  the  whole  soul  thus  eloselh  with  the  will  of  Christ 
by  virtue  of  the  power  and  spirit  of  Christ ;  for  if  a  people 
submit  to  the  will  of  their  prince,  but  it  is  not  by  virtue  of  l^is 
authority  over  ihem,  command  of  ihem,  and  helps  he  hath  given 


I 


i 


I 


KOK  ; 


TIME   ( 


301  1 


flwm  for  that  end,  bul  il  is  b^  reiuon  of  some  foreign  pow^r,  that 
trnderhand  encourngeth  them  to  yield.  Ibis  is  poor  subjeclion- 

When  the  £oul  thus  submita  to  Cbrist'a  will  for  the  Lord's 
aadi,  ilcnyiag  its  own  wieilom  or  will,  and  m  led  by  the  Lord  to 
his  end  ;  for  if  a  people  shall  submit  lo  their  prince,  but  it  is  to 
■et  up  other  princes,  be  is  cast  oH*  from  bis  Ihronc.  When  a 
man  shtill  serve  God,  and  be  under  his  government  because  it  is 
proSlAblc  or  honorable,  it  euita  his  own  end,  this  is  poor  service 
in  the  Lord's  account, 

1.  I  saj,  then,  the  soni  is  under  (he  inward  kingdom  or  gov- 
ernment of  Christ,  when  the  whole  soul  gives  enlertainment  to 
the  Lord  of  lord^,  the  Lord  himself,  with  all  his  (rain,  in  and 
by  the  gospel  of  grace,  ll>e  rojal  swonl  and  scepter  of  Christ's 
kingdom  ;  for  when  Christ  himself  is  thus  received,  the  kingdo|p 
of  God  is  come  lo  llmt  soul,  and  entered  into  that  heart ;  anil 
hence  (Mark  i.  14,  In)  the  gospel  b  called  the  gospel  of  the 
kiogilom,  and  when  John  and  Christ  preaclied,  "  Believe  and  ro- 
peni,  for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand."  Under  which  word 
U  comprehended  much,  but  principally  Christ  Jesus  ready  lo  en- 
ter the  souls  of  his  people ;  and  hence  John  preached  Christ. 
Now,  it  is  Niid  those  that  were  ctfcctunlly  wrought  upon,  (Malt.  xi. 
12,)  that  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  did  sufler  violence,  and  the  vio- 
lent take  it  by  force ;  "  so  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  into 
ihe  hearts  of  all  tlie  elect  of  God,  when  the  soul  uses  a  holy  vio- 
lence,  and  the  Lord  does  draw  (he  heart  lo  an  entert.iinmcnt  of 
the  Lord  himself.  Many  difficulties  there  be  between  them  and 
Christ,  and  yet  they  break  through  all. 

This  is  the  condition  of  all  men  by  nature ;  they  are  strangers 
to  Christ,  and  live  wiihouE  God  and  Christ  in  Ihe  world,  and 
Christ  from  ihem,  and  so  Saian  lakes  possession  and  rules  them, 
and  so  men  are  under  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  so  that  the  devil 
himself  possesses  every  natural  man,  as  the  apostle  speaks,  "  lie 
worketh  in  llie  children  of  disobe^lience,"  to  run  on  so.  and 
remain  so.  Now.  the  goiipel  of  the  kingdom  and  the  means  to  ad- 
vance Christ  ill  bis  kingdom  makes  a  free  offer  of  Christ  himself  i 
indeed,  it  offers  pardon,  grace,  mercy,  life,  glory,  but  all  these  are 
in  Christ  himseltj  and  we  possess  them  by  possessing  and  receiving 
tt  Christ  himself;  as  a  poor  woman  hath  all  the  wealth  of  the  man 
tjf  enienaining  of  ihc  man.  So  that  iho  gos|>eI  flrslty  aiid  pri- 
Vinrily  offers  Ciirisi  himself,  and  faith  doth  pilch  on  Ctu-ist 
himself,  and  doih  "  open  those  everlasting  doors  that  the 
King  of  glory  may  come  in."  John  i.  12,  It  is  said,  "So 
mnny  as  received  hira,  he  gave  power  lo  be  ihe  sons  of  God." 
X  John  v.  12,  '•He  that  haih  the  Son  hnih  life;"  so  that  now  lei. 
VOL.  III.  26 


I 


I 

I 

t 


802  A    IVHOLESOllE    CAVEAT 

a  man  refuse  or  reject  the  Lord  himself  as  be  h  llius  offered  iii 
the  gosjiel,  lie  does  refuse  the  kingdom  of  tlie  Lord,  nnd  does  re- 
fuse to  be  under  tlje  poiver  of  Ihe  Lord.  Tnie,  it  maj  be  said 
the  kingdom  of  God  hath  been  nigh  to  him,  when  Christ  is  offered 
in  tbu  gospel,  nnd  God  says,  as  it  nere,  Kolbing  shall  please 
toe  so  much  as  this,  if  thou  dost  receive  me.  Luke  x.,  **  Go 
and  preach  lo  theae  and  these  eities,  and  if  they  will  n 
you,  sliake  olTibe  dust  of  your  feet,  and  let  them  know  the  king- 
dom of  God  hath  1)een  nigh  to  ihetn ;"  then  Christ  comes  into 
the  soul  when  the  whole  soul  tukoe  the  Iiord  for  himself,  Christ, 
and  all  that  Christ  hath,  Clirist  in  a  pardon,  and  Christ  in  a 
promise  :  at  tlmt  very  day  the  Lord  gave  the  heart  to  receive 
him,  then  is  ibe  kingdom  of  God  come  in  that  heart,  and  with 
^him  all,  life,  peace,  joy,  and  glory,  God,  Spirit,  and  all. 

Now,  the  whole  soul  receives  him,  when,  J,  the  mind  sees  him 
in  the  glory  of  his  grace,  that  though  it  had  low,  mean  thoughts 
of  Christ  before,  for  which  it  mourns,  yet  the  rising  of  lliis  glo- 
rious eun  upon  him,  ha  esteems  all  things  loss  for  him  that  he 
may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  Christ,  I  in  him,  and  be  in  me, 
in  vocation  ;  end  not  having  my  own  righteousness,  in  justifica- 
tion ;  and  to  feel  the  life  of  Christ  and  death  also,  in  sanutitieation  ; 
and  to  attain  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  in  glorification  :  and 
now  nothing  is  dear  to  tiie  soul  but'Chri&t.  2.  When  the  will, 
after  the  soul  hath  hud  some  hopes,  the  Lord  may  look  toward 
it  in  his  grace,  and  having  had  many  heart-breaking  tcai-s  before 
Ihe  Lord,  the  Lord  is  now  pleased  by  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
gospel  lo  give  the  will  power  not  only  lo  ifccive  and  entertain 
the  Lord,  but  gladly  lo  receive  him.  The  soul  wonders  that 
ever  the  Lord  should  how  down  to  him,  and  ofler  mercy  to  him ; 
and  whenas  together  with  this,  by  the  sweel  favor  of  his  grace 
that  he  doth  let  into  the  heart,  the  soul  doth  receive  the  Lord 
with  most  dear  embracings  into  his  soul,  ihnt  now  there  is  none 
like  lo  the  Lord.  Cant,  i,  3,  "  Thy  name  is  like  an  ointment  poured 
out,  where  the  very  feet  of  the  messengers  of  glad  tidings  are 
beautiful."  Dut  the  Lord  himself  is  the  only  crown  and  joy  of 
the  soul,  when  the  least  look  of  love  to  a  castaway  is  more  sweet 
than  kingdoms,  oy,  and  much  more,  that  is,  love  itself.  Is.  Iii.  9, 
"  Break  forth  into  joy,  sing  together,  ye  waste  places  of  Jerusa- 
lem :  for  the  Lord  hath  comforted  his  people."  When  kings 
shall  stop  their  mouths  as  vile  in  themselves,  and  not  able  lo  set 
forth  that  glory  they  never  heard  of  before,  and  the  soul  for  joy 

I  letls  away  all  to  buy  this  pearl,  thot  it  says  with  Uuvid,  "  llow 

/  do  I  love  thy  law !  " 

Bow,  beloved]  when  the  soul  does  thuB  receive  the  Lord,  the 


FOB  A   TIME   OF   LIBERTY. 

a  of  God  b  come  to  time  soul,  and  therefore  trj  and  cz- 
ia  it  tliua  with  you  ?  or  hath  the  Lord  beguo  to  deitl  thus 
with  thee,  to  give  himself,  the  glory  of  aagelj,  the  wonderment 
of  heaven,  the  mighty  God  of  heaven,  lo  come  to  thy  heart? 
Thou  art  then  under  the  government  of  the  kingdom  of  Grod. 
Uut  now,  on  the  contrary,  if  thou  canst  be  content  to  receive  the 
ordinances  of  Christ,  or  the  consolations  of  Clirial,  or  some  of 
the  commands  of  Christ,  and  that  is  all,  and  the  Lord  never  gave 
thee  a  heart  to  close  with  Christ  himself,  it  is  a  strange  thing  lo 
thee,  that  which  is  the  main  thing,  the  diamond  in  the  ring  of 
the  gospel ;  thou  art  yet  far  enough  otf  from  the  kingdom  of 
God  :  I  dare  not  say  nor  think,  for  all  the  world,  that  ever  the. 
kingdom  of  God  came  to  thy  heart.  Again,  if  jou  have  re- 
ceived Christ,  but  not  with  thy  whole  soul ;  that  now  the  offer^ 
promises,  blood,  life,  grace,  glory  in  the  gospel,  are  grown  com- 
mon things  to  thee ;  that  the  Lord  never  sent  thee  home  won- 
dering at  the  glory  of  Grod's  grace  to  a  poor  wretch,  never  yet 
saidst,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lordj'' 
the  Lord  never  yet  lay  next  thy  heart,  or  if  thou  hast  had  some 
liking,  and  some  love  and  aflrctions  in  )iangs,  yet  the  Lord  is  not 
only  pr«cious  and  exceeding  dear  in  thy  heart,  thy  heart  breuka 
not  for  grief  that  tbou  hast  so  much  slighted  him,  so  little  bonie 
him  of  thy  heart.  It  is  a  sign  that  the  Lord  hath  begun  lo  re- 
veal himself  to  thy  soul  when  he  gives  thee  a  heart  to  mourn  for 
thy  standing  out  against  him,  hut  this  never  came  to  thy  soul. 

Certainly,  here  is  the  wound  of  many  men.  The  gospel  of 
God  never  hath  its  proper  effect  till  the  Lord  help  thee  to  giva 
thy  whole  heart  thus  to  a  Saviour,  lo  a  God,  to  the  Prince  of 
I'eace  ;  and  till  this  is  done,  the  gospel  is  in  effect  u  al, ,  it  doth 
nothing.  It  was  a  sweet  prayer  of  him.  "  Make  thy  Son  dear, 
very  dear,  exceeding  dear,  only  dear  and  precious,  or  not  at  all  I " 
If  thou  hadst  a  thousand  hearts,  it  was  too  little  for  Christ  ta 
love  him ;  and  dost  grudge  him  one  ?  When  thou  hast  imparled 
thy  heart  and  esteem  to  thy  lusts  and  creature,  dost  thou  love  thfl 
Lord  with  part  of  thy  heart  ?  but  a  vile  lust,  a  poor  crealurs 
must  have  a  share,  and  the  remnant  will  serve  Christ;  is  he  not 
>nly  pearl  of  thy  heart  ?  to  give  him  daily  communion,  knoir 
this  thou  art  a  stranger  lo.  "  Hear,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder, 
and  perish ;  God  will  work  a  work  in  your  days."  What  a 
that?  The  inlinite  God  can  not  express,  as  it  were,  the  wrath 
tl>i>t  shall  come  against  such  a  soul,  nor  I  can  not  express  the 
wruih  tJiat  shall  come  upon  such  a  denpiscr  of  the  Lord  Jesus- 
Give  him  all  thy  heart  or  none :  if  ihou  bast  the  Loivl,  thou  hsst 
bi«  whole  heart:  il'  he  had  a  tliousand  lives,  he  would  have  laid 


I 


IvnOLESOME    CAVEAT 


^B     804 

^V      them  all  down  for  tlicc.     Hq  poured  out  hi^  blood  fur  everj  o 
^f  of  his  ;  but  for  tlie  piiisent  ihou  nit  out  of  [lie  kitigilom  of  God 

to  lliis  day. 

2.  Wben  the  whole  aoul  closeth  with  tiie  whole  will  of  Christ, 

having  thus  received  him ;  for  if  a  prince  be  come,  nnd  people  will 

not  he  ruled  by  him  nor  any  laws  that  he  raakts,  though  never 

80  good,  hut  what  they  list,  the  kingdom  ia  cast  off;  for,  beloved, 

there  ia  a  marvelous  common  deceit  in  men's  hearU,  ihey  would 

not  for  nil  the  world  but  have  Christ ;  ay,  but  the  will  of  Christ 

ia  neglected,  that  is  a  clog,  and  ihe  burden  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

^L        Christ  is  sweet  And  his  will  is  hitter,  Christ  ia  precious  and  his 

^H        will  ia  vilaf    Why  do  you  make  him  a  king,  and  ye  will  make 

^H        hiwB  for  Christ,  and  you  will  rulo  Christ,  and  his  will  shall  not 

^M        stand  ?     Here  is  no  king.     Such  kind  of  idle  libertines  were  in 

^H        the  apostles'  time.    1  John  i.  6,  *<  If  we  say  we  have  fellowship 

^M        with  him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  there  ia  no  truth  in 

^P        us."     But  now,  when  Ihe  whole  soul  does  submit  to  the  whole 

will  of  the  Lord,  now  his  kingdom  is  come  indeed,  when  his  will 

is  thus  sweet.     Dan.  vii.  27,   "  Hia  kingdom  is  on  everlasting 

kingdom,  and  all  natioiu  shall  serve  him,  and  his  servants  ye  are 

whom  ye  obey,"  whether  Clirist,  the  devil,  or  your  own  hearts. 

tNow,  the  whole  will  of  Christ  is,  1,  directing ;  2,  correcling. 
Now,  when  the  soul  submits  to  both,  then  Christ  rules  in  his 
kingdom  ;  sometimes  you  meet  with  Christ's  directing  will ;  now 
this  is  men's  frame,  naturally  they  will  not  see  it.  "  they  will  not 
come  to  the  light,"  (John  iii.  20,)  they  are  Ifd  by  their  own 
counsel,  and  will  not  regard  the  light  and  counsel  of  God  in  his 
word ;  they  will  quarrel  with  the  light  when  it  ia  cross  to  their 
ends,  gain,  honor,  and  the  like  ;  men  have  high  thoughts  against 
the  Lord  Jesus,  (2  Cor.  x.  5,)  "  Casting  down  imaginations,  and 
every  high  thought  that  exolleth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of 
God."  And  again  :  if  men  do  see  it,  yet,  like  the  devil,  that 
has  much  light,  they  do  not  love  it,  nor  out  of  love,  {not  unless  it 
be  out  of  fear,)  subject  to  it  like  Balaam,  that  had  no  love  to 
>  God's  command,  but  only  was  acted  by  fear  and  constraint :  now, 
when  the  soul  continues  thus,  it  casts  off  Christ's  kingdom,  but  if 

tthe  whole  soul  first  comes  to  the  light,  though  it  sees  little,  seta 
the  whole  will  of  Chrbt  before  it,  {Ps.  xviii.  22,)  saith  David, 
"  I  have  kept  the  ways  of  tlie  Lord,  and  have  not  wickedly  de- 
ported from  ray  God  ; "  and  though  it  hath  had  many  quarrelinga 
against  ihe  truth  of  God,  yet  now  it  hath  not,  nor  darea  not,  but 
says.  Lord,  teach  me  ;  the  Lord  gives  ihem  hearts  to  lie  down  at 
the  feet  of  any  man  that  shall  show  them  any  tiling  that  is  amiss 
^^       in  them,  and  they  say  with  David,  "Lord,  search  me,  and  try 


TIME   OF  LinERTT. 


me  J "  I  have  aiany  crooked  wnys,  niiH  lh<;reforQ,  good  Lord,  Rnd 
them  out,  and  ttiererore  curae  to  tlie  Lord  Tor  tliai  end ;  and 
thotigli  there  bciminelhing  in  ihera  tliol  is  desperately  coiiirary  to 
ihe  good  will  of  God.  yei  ihere  is  an  inward  man  thai  does  delight 
in  the  law  of  God,  and  when  ihe  Lord  is  pleaaed  la  give  ihem  « 
heart  to  »ulimil  lo  the  will  of  God,  O,  ihe  suul  doth  wonder  at 
the  LiOrd,  that  the  Lord  should  show  him  any  thing,  and  help  him 
againiiit  temptations ;  and  though  lliei-e  be  a  great  deal  of  weari- 
ness in  llu;  ways  of  God,  yet  there  is  a  spirit  within  hiui,  that  it 
is  indeed  heaven  itself  to  him  to  be  in  the  ordinances  of  God; 
now,  ye  stoop  to  the  directing  will  of  Christ,  when  this  is  thy 
way,  though  thou  goest  oft  out  of  it,  yut  contest  in  it  again,  aa 
ein  is  a  wicked  man's  way,  although  be  goelh  a  lliousand  limea 
out  of  iL 

Now  for  the  other,  the  correcting  will  of  Christ.  The  Lord 
hath  strong  trial*.  Now,  here  subjection  lo  Christ  is  required  as 
well  as  to  the  directing  will  of  Christ;  then  the  soul  submits  to 
this  will  when  the  mind  objects  not,  charges  not  God  with  folly, 
as  Eli.  I  Sara.  iii.  18,  "  It  is  the  Lord ;  lei  him  do  what  seem- 
eih  hint  good."  And  likewise  the  will,  though  it  hath  had  muiy 
sad  bouts,  yet  this  is  his  frame  in  the  conclusion,  thai  the  will  ut 
Christ  is  better  than  every  thing  else ;  the  will  of  Christ  is  alone 
Bweet  to  him.  Is.  xxxviii.,  Siulh  Hezekiah,  "  Good  is  tlio 
will  of  the  Lord:"  and  so  Lam.  iii.,  "  It  is  good  for  a  man  lo  l>ear 
the  yoke  in  his  yonth,  and  to  turn  his  cheeks  to  him  that  smites 
him."  Nay,  when  there  is  spiritual  evils  on  the  soul,  as  was  on 
Christ  himself,  spirilual  desertions,  nothing  but  bitterness  and 
sorrow,  yet  the  soul  »aiih.  us  Christ  did,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine, 
lie  done  ;  Father,  save  mc  from  this  hour  ;  yet,  Father,  glorify 
thyself,"  and  so  the  soul  does  humbly  submit  itself  to  the  Lord; 
though  the  Lord  should  never  pity  it,  yet  it  will  lie  down  at  the 
feet  of  the  Lord  ;  now  is  God's  kingdom  come.<^ 

But  if  the  soul  will  have  Chtisi,  mid  yet  cast  off  the  will  of 
Christ,  1,  either  in  his  judgment,  that  the  law  of  Goal,  as  given 
liy  Christ, should  be  no  rule  to  a  Christian;  sup[H>se  you  were  in 
Knglanil,  and  were  there  pressed  to  bow  before  an  altar,  or  image  ;  - 
what  shall  lead  you,  if  that  God's  will  and  law  must  not  be  your 
rule  ?  The  Lord  will  one  day  make  you  know  his  blessed  will 
in  that  blessed  law  of  his,  that  ye  shall  never  find  peace  lo  the 
end  of  the  world,  except  the  Lord  do  help  ye  thus  lo  walk. 
Again:  when  men  can  not  endure  the  will  of  Christ,  cannot  endure 
cxhurtatiuns :  Wlint  doth  the  mtin  mean  lo  exhort  ut.  thus?  I  tell 
thee  ihore  goelh  forth  t>uwer  with  the  exhorialions  of  Christ.  I 
•ay,  take  heed  of  casting  off  the  will  of  Christ  here  i  and  so, 
26  • 


I 


I 
I 


806  A    WHOLESOME   CAVEAT 

when  men  in  tlwir  praclice  sbull  qiinrrel  against  any  of  God's 
truths,  and  are  lolh  to  see  it,  or,  if  tliey  do,  yet  not  love  dearly 
every  trolh  of  God,  but  it  is  a  burden  to  them,  especially  if  it 
cross  Iheir  own  enils  xnd  gain,  Ihey  will  not  ece  it  to  be  B  truth, 
lest  iliey  should  be  convluced  a:id  turn  to  the  rule  of  it ;  if  the 
will  and  ordinftnces  of  Christ  be  a  burden  to  a  man,  and  a  man 
ii  not  weary  of  his  weariness,  but  weary  of  them  all  the  while. 
Art  thou  under  the  government  of  Christ?  If  a  man  Ibrsaken 
of  God,  led  by  his  own  counsels,  be  under  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
then  thou  art ;  bo  long  as  there  is  credit  fur  the  truth,  so  long  it 
ia  entertained  ;  but  now  suppose  it  be  costly,  that  it  should  bring 
beggary  and  affliction  with  it  i  is  it  now  sweet  to  you  ?  doth 
this  support  thy  heart  ?  I  am  in  God's  way ;  canst  lie  down  and 
subscribe  to  the  equity  of  Christ's  proceedings  with  thee,  though 
he  should  never  show  favor  to  thee  ?  If  it  be  not  thus,  1  dare 
not  say  thou  art  under  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  And  so  for  the 
correcting  will  of  Christ ;  many  sad  aflliolious  the  Lord  tries 
thee  withal,  the  Lord  tries  men  m;irvclously ;  when  thou  art 
under  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  those  very  things  that  should  make 
men  cry  to  heaven  and  wean  thee  from  the  world,  those  very 
things  do  harden  thee,  and  make  thee  grudge  and  repine.  The 
Lord  be  merciful  to  thee,  if  this  be  thy  frame ;  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  never  came  into  that  heart ;  you  are  begging  for  mercy, 
and  the  Lord  says,  You  mercy  ?  you  have  abused  it ;  no,  saith 
the  Lord,  go  to  your  lu^t.  that  have  desf)ised  the  day  of  grace, 
ftnd  BO  now  you  cost  oif  the  Lord  because  the  i<ord  will  not  give 
you  mercy  when  you  would  have  it.  Will  you  now  quarrel  with 
the  Lord  ?  No  !  down,  proud  heart ;  pray  still,  and  mourn  still, 
and  turn  to  the  Lord,  and  say.  Lord,  do  with  me  wliat  thou  wilt ; 
I  am  clay  in  thine  band  ;  thou  mayest  make  me  a  vessel  of  dis- 
honor ;  I  deserve  not  the  least  bit  of  bread :  such  a  one  as  is 
above  the  Lord  aud  hiswillis  not  under  the  Lord;  therefore  sub- 
mit thyself  to  the  good  will  of  Christ. 

3.  When  the  soul  doth  thus  submit  to  the  will  of  Christ,  by 
virtue  of  the  power  and  spirit  of  Christ,  i.  e.,  when  the  soul  doth 
not  submit  by  virtue  of  its  own  power,  strength,  or  ability,  for 
this  is  foreign  power.  Kut  as  it  doth  seek  to  submit  to  the  will 
of  Christ,  BO  it  would  have  Christ  himself  act  it  and  rule  it,  and 
so  enable  it  to  submit  thereunto.  Now  is  the  kingdom  of  God 
tTBIhe  near  to  that  heart.  And  herein  Christ's  kingdom  is  dilfer- 
'  em  from  princes' ;  ihey  give  laws  that  men  may  keep  thrm  by 
their  own  might;  hence  ihey  conimund  no  impo.=siblc  things; 
but  the  will  of  Christ  is  so  cross  to  a  carnal  heart,  that  it  is  im- 
possible man  of  himself  should  submit  to  it ;  but  the  Lord  doth 


^  J 


FOB   A   TIME   OP  LIBERTT.  307 

it  for  this  cml,  that  the  soul  shmilJ  then  come  [o  Christ  in  ita 
need,  that  he  would  do  all  the  good  [ileasun;  of  his  will,  and  now  . 
the  Lord  himself  reigns,  and  that  gloriously./  Rom.  viii.  l^^Z.  I 
"  For  [hi!  law  o(  the  spirit  of  life,  whidi  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  haCn 
made  me  free  from  the  taw  of  sin  and  death."  Acts  t.  31,  "A 
Prince  and  Saviour,  for  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  ains." 
It  is  part  of  his  princely  powpr  for  to  give  remission  of  sins,  hoih 
in  turning  from  sin.anti  to  God  and  all  the  ways  of  God;  and  now 
Tou  eicalt  him  when  he  is  thus  set  up.  1  Cur.  iv.  20,  **  Tlie 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  povrer."  The  power  of 
Christ  Jmus  is  come  into  thy  soul,  and  the  soul  is  under  tho  king- 
dom of  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  it  doth  lie  under  the  migliiy  power 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  2  Tliess.  i.  1 1.  12,  "  Wc  pray  always 
for  you.  that  the  I»rd  would  work  and  fullill  the  good  pleasure 
of  his  will,  and  the  woric  of  faitli  in  power,  that  Christ  may  be 
glorified.''  Yea,  then  is  Christ  glorified,  when  God  omnipotent 
reigns  over  sin  and  unbflief ;  and  when  the  Lord  doth  this,  not 
only  the  kingdom  of  God  is  now  come,  but  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
in  glory  is  come.  Tliere  is  many  a  poor  miuI  thinks  Christ  rules 
him  not,  because  he  can  not  do  this  nor  ibut,  because  he  finds  hia 
heart  unable  and  unwilling  fur  to  submit  to  the  will  of  ChrisL  I 
fiad  no  eirengtli  at  all,  sailh  the  soul,  and  I  go  to  Christ,  aud  find 
not  strength  conveyed  ;  and  now  he  tliinkd  he  is  not  under  the 
kingdom  of  ChrisL  I  answer,  that  is  not  the  question  ;  but  hath 
the  Lord  made  thee  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power?  When 
the  soul  doth  lie  under  the  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when 
the  soul  doth  lie  like  wax  l>efore  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  the  soul 
sailh,  Lord,  tliere  was  never  any  change  of  my  nature;  the 
good  Lord  change  it,  and  if  there  be  any  change,  the  good  Lord 
increase  and  stir  up  tlie  graces  of  thy  Spirit  in  my  soul,  and  do 
tliou  lead  me  and  guide  me,  —  brethren,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is 
come  to  this  soul.  John  v.  40,  "You  will  not  come  to  me  for 
life,"  lie  doth  not  say.  Yon  do  not  quicken  yourselves,  or,  Ye 
can  not  come  lo  me,  hut  will  not.  Hi-rc  is  their  wound  j  they 
will  nut  eomc  to  Christ  fur  life.  Etom.  vi.  19,  "  A3  ye  have 
yielded  your  members  servants  to  sin  a:id  Satan,  so  now  yield  up 
yourselves  servants  to  righteousness  and  lo  holiness."  Ps.  exis. 
i,  6,  "  Tliou  hast  cuinrouiided  that  we  should  keep  thy  preLfpts 
continually.  O  that  oiy  heart  were  directed  lo  keep  iby  pre- 
cepts t.-ontinually  I  O  ihat  my  heart  were  directed  to  keep  thy 
Bluiuies !  "  When  a  Christian  is  grappling  with  his  own  he.4rr, 
ye  will  never  be  able  to  overcome  the  unsubduedncss  ihcreof  i 
but  when  ye  bring  them  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Chri^  thai  he  would 
lako  n  course  with  them,  1,  Now  ye  please  Christ.    2.  Ye  lak« 


I 


E    CAVEAT 


asurecoursi:  to  have  the  wiU  of  Go'l<lune,  hebeing  in  office  for  (hat 
l;Dd  ;  for  liitu  hikth  God  exulled  Ui  be  a  Friiiue  and  Sitviuur  lo 
larael ;  when  die  soul  doth  look  up  to  the  Lord  Jeaus,  Euid  he 
undor  the  power  tiitd  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jedus.  3.  You  now 
make  ttie  yoke  of  Christ  sweet,  and  hid  Dame  glorious  ;  nothing 
gloriliea  Christ  bo  much  as  this,  when  Jesua  doth  work  in  a  Chris- 
tiun ;  now  ihe  kingdom  of  Christ  18  come  to  the  soul,  and  that  in 
power. 

But  now,  when  men  will  not  submit  thus  far  lo  Christ,  1,  they 
can  do  nothing,  but  will  not  come  lo  him,  on  wbom  God  hatb 
laid  salvation ;  you  say  you  can  not  understand  nor  edity  by  the 
BermoQS  ye  hear,  and  you  om  not  part  with  your  lusts.  Ay,  but 
now  this  id  thy  condcrannlion,  thou  wilt  not  go  to  a  Sa^'iou^,  that 
he  may  teach  thee  and  help  thee,  when  men  will  nut  have  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  reign  over  them.  Or,  i,  if  men  do  come,  they  will 
not  come  lo  him  where  he  may  be  found  ;  but  say  I  can  do  noth- 
ing; Christ  must  do  all;  and  so  neglect  ihe  means  wherein  he 
will  be  found.  Or,  3,  will  submit  and  come  in  means  to  him,  hut 
not  then  at  the  special  time  when  he  is  to  he  sought  and  may  be 
found,  viz.,  in  time  of  tetBptiition ;  but  then  for^cl  and  forsake 
him,  and  cry,  not  Hosanna.  Lord,  now  save,  now  help  me  against 
this  lusL  When  temptation  comes,  when  passion  and  pride  come, 
do^'uu  now  go  lo  Je^us  Christ?  When  the  world  begins  to  draw 
thy  heart  away,  dost  thou  say  thus  ?  —  Lord,  I  have  prayed  this 
day  against  this  sin  ;  and,  Lonl,  1  have  no  strength  against  it ;  now. 
Lord,  help  me.  But  here  is  the  mi.sery  of  the  soul ;  it  doth  not 
go  to  Christ,  and  by  this  means  live  in  comptaiiila  ail  their  lite- 
time.  ~i.  If,  lastly,  any  thing  be  lo  be  done,  they  will  do  it  them- 
eelves,  as  Puul.  (Gal.  i.  li.)  Not  but  that  a  Christian  should 
put  foilh  himself;  a  Christian  is  not  a  dead-hearted  Christiau 
at  all  times,  hut  the  grace  of  God,  which  comes  fram  Christ,  doth 
Bet  the  soul  in  a  continual  dependence  on  Christ ;  and  where 
Christ  acts  Tiut,  there  Satan  doth.  Kow,  I  say  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  come,  when  ihu  soul  doth  ihus  eubniit  to  tlie  stream  of 
the  blessed  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  that  the  Lord  may  guide  it.  O 
beloved,  here  is  the  skill,  that  poselh  the  augeU  how  to  tell  you  ; 
so  lo  yield  yourselves  lo  Christ,  as  that  Clirisi  may  come ;  bo  lo 
abide  in  the  stock,  ihat  all  your  fruit  may  be  from  him  ;  so  to 
lie  under  the  Lord,  as  that  the  stream  of  the  Spirit  of  life  may 
full  on  thee  ;  so  to  be  implanted  in  the  Lord,  as  to  fetch  lite  from 
him.  aji  bring  t'orih  fruit  lo  him.  But  try  this  course,  submit  to 
the  will  of  tht'  Lord  Jesus,  be  nulhing  in  thy  own  eyes ;  and  if 
the  Loi-d  do  give  thee  any  tiling,  bless  the  Lord  tor  it ;  if  any 
strength  against  tliy  sin,  be  vile  in  thy  own  ej>es,  and  try  and  see  if 


i   OF   LIUEItTV. 


309        V 


V  find  not  the  kingdom  of  God,  llie  glory  of  henren,  come  into  thy 
O  the  light,  life,  prayers,  you  might  have,  the  heavenly 
'~  oonference  ye  will  have  togelUer,  ihat  it  would  do  a  man's  heart 
good  to  be  with  such  a  Christian  ;  that  those  that  ai'e  wilh  you 
might  say,  Verily  God  is  in  this  miui ;  verily  there  is  joy  in 
lieaven  when  the  saints  keep  in  this  fi'ame. 

4.  When  the  eoul  yields  thus  to  the  will  of  Christ  for  Christ's 
ends  ;  for  such  is  the  subtle  wrei<:hedness  of  men's  hearts,  that, 
nen  would  have  Christ  glorify  himself,  that  he  may  glorify  ant) 
honor  them  ;  like  Simon  Hagus,  that  would  give  any  money  for 
)i[)ostolical  gii^,  that  he  might  be  somebody  that  way  also.  Now, 
if  a  man  shall  submit,  go  to  Christ  for  gilts  and  parts,  that  is  to 
Ht  up  another  king,  to  advance  r  man's  self;  and  so,  also,  siu 
Mid  the  devil,  and  Christ  must  be  made  a  servant  for  this  end ; 
he  is  now  no  king;  like  a  rebel,  that  is  not  content  that  thou- 
sands of  the  king's  subjects  should  serve  him,  but  he  will  have 
the  prince  s«rve  him  also.  Every  man  will  say,  this  doth  utterly 
overthrow  the  kingdom  of  such  a  prince  When  a  man  shiJi 
secretly  fight  against  the  Lord,  and  he  for  himself,  and  for  the 
devil  and  sin  within  ;  when  a  man  shall  make  all  the  creatures 
serve  him,  the  soldiers  of  his  army,  meat,  drink,  and  outward 
comforts,  this  is  a  marvelous  thing ;  ay,  but  when  a  man  shall 
moke  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  himself,  and  profession  of  Christ, 
make  these  to  serve  him,  to  raise  up  his  name,  this  the  Lord 
takes  very  ill. 

Only  this  I  would  add :  When  the  soul  doth  look  at  Christ  with 
a  single  eye,  that  Christ  is  sweet  and  precious,  and  lies  under 
Uie  blessed  Spirit  of  Christ  for  that  end  ;  and  now  looks  up  to 
Christ,  that  he  may  submit  to  him  with  a  single  eye^  that  the 
name  of  Christ  may  be  glorilied  by  life  and  death :  true  it  is, 
self  will  be  in  every  duty,  and  so  is  contrary  to  the  Lord  in  all, 
and  not  fur  the  Lord.  Yet  though  it  be  thus,  there  is  another 
thing  iu  the  soul  that  is  wholly  for  God  and  Christ ;  and  hence 
seeks  that  he  may  do  his  work ;  his  heart  loves  him,  and  so 
seeks  him  ;  and  he  begs  it  with  many  tears.  0  that  my  children 
might  serve  and  love  this  God ;  nay,  tliat  all  the  world  might 
see,  and  bless,  and  admire  this  God,  and  the  Lord  enlorgelh  his 
heart  herein,  (fs.  Ixxii.  19.)  and  truly  now  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  come  to  thy  soul.  liom.  r.  17,  As  sin  and  Satan  do 
reign  by  death,  so  Jesus  Christ  doth  reign  by  life  to  eternal  life. 
Matt.  xxr.  14,  He  is  the  true  subject  that  improves  liis  talents 
for  ibe  lung.  Christ  will  subdue  all  his  lo  himself.  Fs.  Isvi.  3, 
■■  Through  the  greatness  of  thy  jiower  shall  thine  enemies  submit 
themselves   to   thee."     Rom.  xiv.  17,  "  For   the  kingdom  of 


I 


I 


I 


810  A    WHOLESOME    CAVEAT 

God  is  not  in  meat  iinil  drink,  but  in  riglitcousne«s,  and  peacSi 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Gliosl."  Wlicn  a  man  slitill  be  pickiug 
fault  wilh  tilings,  and  ibis  and  lliat  oRbnd^  liim ;  get  ye  gont^,  the 
kingdom  of  God  consists  not  in  titat.  liul  when  the  «oal  does 
go  to  tlie  Lord,  and  maintain  hia  peace  with  God,  and  love  to 
the  people  of  God,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Gliost,  liere  is  llie  king- 
dom of  Goil.  lie  that  serves  Christ  in  these  things,  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  come  into  liis  sout. 

Me  that  thus  Bubmila  to  the  Lord  Cliriel,  be  must  first  be  r 
man  weary  of  his  own  counseli^,  and  muat  loathe  himself.  When 
the  Lord  hath  wearied  a  man  of  liie  own  ways,  he  says.  What 
am  I,  that  the  Lord  should  b!iow  me  any  mercy  ?  And  when 
the  Lord  calls  him  to  any  service,  Lord,  what  am  I,  that 
I  should  now  pray  to  thee  ?  Bless  the  Lord  when  the  Lord 
doth  keep  thy  heart  in  this  frame ;  but  now,  when  men  will 
honor  Christ,  and  yet,  Saul-like,  have  Christ  honor  them^ 
Many  poor  creatures  they  think  it  a  credit  to  be  in  olnirch  fellow- 
ship, and  they  will  seek  to  know  Christ  that  they  may  altaia 
church  fellowship,  and  have  honor ;  but  know  it,  till  the  Lord  do 
pull  down  thy  huse  ends,  and  make  thee  loathe  thyself,  and  so 
to  submit  to  his  blessed  will,  truly  till  then  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  not  come  to  tby  suul.  Think  of  these  things,  for  if  the  king- 
dom of  God  be  in  our  hearts,  tlien  look  for  good  days.  Brethren, 
let  New  England  be  eonRdent  of  it :  but  if  this  be  gone  from  the 
souls  and  hearts  of  men  and  women,  in  their  several  families  and 
places,  though  they  may  have  the  outward  kingdom  of  Christ, 
yet  the  inward  kingdom  being  not  set  up,  I  say  no  more  but 
what  be  said.  Go  to  Palestina  and  Bohemia.  C<?rtainly,  if  they 
had  not  cast  off  the  Lard's  government,  they  had  never  seen 
these  lamentable  days  ;  they  bad  outward  ordinances  ;  O,  but 
here  was  the  thing :  the  inward  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesua 
Christ,  and  subjection  to  the  will  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  to  be  for 
the  Lord  Jesus,  this  the  Lord  saw  was  not  iu  them;  therefore  the 
Lord  hath  lell  them  to  be  lamentable  spectacles.  Therefore, 
dear  brethren,  I  do  beseech  you,  pray  and  beg  for  this  kingdom. 
Thou  sayest,  I  fall  short  of  this.  Know  this  kingdom  of  God  ia 
at  first  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  some  little  lying  under  the 
will  of  Christ ;  if  it  be  in  truth,  blessed  be  God  for  it ;  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  come,  and  the  sold  doth  weep  and  mourn  after  the 
Lord,  that  the  Lord  would  bring  every  thought  into  suhjecti 

Know  it,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  to  thy  soul ;  and  kn 
it,  thou  hast  Jesus  Christ  at  the  riglit  hand  of  God  the  Path 
interceding  for  lliee  ;  iherefore  go  home  and  bless  the  Lord,  and 
wonder  at  hia  grace,  that  hath  translated  thee  from  the  kingdt 


J 


FOn   A    TIME    OP    LIBEKTt.  311 

of  darkness  to  llic  kingdom  or  bis  Hear  Son.  If  tlie  Lord  bath 
let  ibcu  llnd  llie  Ixtginning  or  these  things  in  truth,  go  home,  and 
biesa  the  Lord  Tor  it. 

2.  Try  when  iho  exterpal  kingdom  of  Christ  in  his  church  is 
cast  off,  Tor  we  told  you  this  wns  Christ's  kingdom.  It  is  called 
the  kinir^lom  of  heaven.  (Mutt.  sxv.  1.)  And  it  is  it  which  ihe 
Lord  gives  up  al  the  last  day  to  God  the  Father.  And  iience 
(Matt.  viii.  12)  the  members  thereof  are  "  the  children  of  the  king- 
dom ;  "  and  hence  we  read  of  the  rulers  and  governors  of  it,  and 
the  keys,  not  only  of  doctrine,  but  of  power  and  jurisdiction,  com- 
mitted by  Christ  Jesus  to  it,  punctually  expressed  in  Scripture. 

Now,  we  know,  in  the  church  there  is  a  threefold  power  of 
Christ  in  government:  I.  The  supreme,  monarchical,  absoluie 
power  of  Christ,  in  and  by  his  ordinancss.  2.  There  is  some 
derivative  power  of  the  church  from  Christ  jointly  together. 
8.  There  is  a  mintsterial  power  of  the  officers  of  the  church 
il^lf.  Hence  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  overthrown  when  these 
three  are,  when  this  threefold  cord  is,  broken  by  ibc  sons  of  men ; 
and  if  whole  America  cast  off  these,  or  any  of  these,  tlien  they 
fall  to  bondage ;  and  if  particular  persons  in  churches  do,  the 
Ijord  will  do  the  like  to  them  much  more.  1  Kings  ix.  4,  S, 
When  Solomon  had  been  praying  much,  the  Lord  tells  him,  "  If 
he  would  walk  before  him  as  David  his  father  had  done,  to  keep 
his  Btiituies  and  obey  his  commandments,  then  lie  would  l>c  a 
God,  making  good  bis  promise ;  but  if  not,  then  the  Jjord  would 
ca»t  off  him  and  that  place."  So  Zech.  xiv.  17,  "  And  it  shall 
be,  that  whoso  will  not  come  up  of  all  the  families  of  the  eurth, 
to  worsMp  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  even  Upon  them  shall  bo 
no  rain."  The  Lord  is  cjuick  in  his  judgments,  and  will  spare  none. 

I.  There  is  a  supreme  power  of  Jesus  Christ  in  his  church 
and  ordinances  thereof.  Is.  ix.  6,  "  The  government  is  on  bis 
shoulders  ; "  it  is  true  this  {tower  is  on  others  also,  hut  he  is  tho 
1  (Ucb.  iit.,)  Mosea  was  only  »  servant  in  his  house,  Christ 
as  a  son.  The  guidance  of  all  things  in  the  church  doth  lie 
chiefly  on  him,  or  else  it  would  never  be  carried  along.     Christ 

■  Son,  and  that  in  his  own  house,  into  whose  hand^i  the  supreme 

wcr  of  guiding  and  ordering  nil  things  in  the  church  of  God  is 
put ;  the  experience  of  God's  sitints  and  {)cople  doth  lind  another 
power,  which  shows  that  the  Ixird  Jesus  hath,  and  doth  exercise, 
a  mighty  power  in  the  ordinances  of  his  worship  ;  the  supremo 
«nJ  kingly  power  which  he  exerciscth  in  the  hearts  of  bis  people. 

Now,  cast  olT  this  kingly  power,  the  l^rd  himself  is  cast  off;  I 
Speak  not  immediately  as  in  tho  internal  kingdom,  but  mediately. ; 
And  for  this  tlte  Lord  will  bring  into  boiidag>\  Luke  xix.  17, 


I 


"Those  mine 
bIiouM  reign  ov 
Ihcm  ; "  which  ii 


uth  Christ,  "which  would  not  that  tM 
■T  ihem,  bring  tliem  hither,  Ihnt  1  maj  slajT'l 
meiuit  at  tlie  Lord's  external  administration  t^  f 


Qiuit.  When  is  this  done  ? 

Ant.  1.  When  men  impenilcntl;  break  covenant  made  with  (ha 
Lord  {  especially  in  his  ordinances  of  cleaving  and  submilling  to 
l)im  therein,  and  remnin  so  with  impenitency. 

Tliis  is  the  main  and  first  onginal  of  all  the  rest.  Now,  it  ia 
mnnifest,  the  power  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  supreme  power  of  Clirist, 
iii  cast  off;  for  a  man  does  profess  hj  this,  that  not  the  will  of 
,  Chriet,  but  his  own  will,  shall  rule  him ;  Christ  shall  not  be  Lord, 
J»ut  as  they  saidj(Jer.  ii.  31,)  "  Wc  are  lords,  we  will  come  no 
[more  at  thee."  /When  the  league  and  covenant  between  prinoB 
andjJgaple.SEe^l'rolfe,  then  Be  is  (SSTnirfroin  being  king  ;  this  is 
certain,  the  Lord  never  did  receive  any  people  to  himself,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  day,  but  he  hath  done  it  by 
some  covenant ;  nor  never  any  people  took  the  Lord  to  be  their 
God,  but  by  some  coTenant  they  bound  themselves  to  the  Lord ; 
whereby  tliey  were  either  made  his  people,  or  continued  to  be 
Wa  people,  and  he  tlicir  God  ;  but  I  can  not  now  stand  to  clear 
this>  Now,  took,  as  when  the  Lord  breaks  his  covenant,  lie  easts 
them  off  from  being  his  people,  (though  this  he  never  doth  to  the 
elect,)  so  when  people  break  covenant  with  him,  they  cast  him 
off,  as  much  as  in  them  lies,  from  being  their  God  ;  they  do,  as 
much  as  in  them  lies,  make  the  Lord  to  he  no  God.  I  You  shall 
Bee  therefore,  (Hos.  x.  3,)  "They  say,  We  have  no  king,  be- 
cause we  feared  not  the  Lord."  It  is  the  speech  of  conseienee, 
nnd  that  at  a  sad  time,  wherein  they  did  not  fear  the  Lord ; 
"they  have  spoken  words,  swearing  falsely,  and  breaking  the  eov* 
enant."  In  tlieir  time  of  covenanting  with  the  Lord,  there 
seemed  to  be  much  sorrow  and  humiliation;  yol  in  these  very  eove- 
nanls, "  hemlock  did  spring  up,"  and  hence  captivity  came.  Many 
times  the  covenants  that  are  made,  there  is  such  outward  seeming 
reality,  that  not  only  men,  but  the  Lord,  speaking  after  the  manner 
of  men,  he  thinks  certainly  the^e  promises,  these  covenants  will 
never  be  broken.  Yet  they  are  broken.  Is.  Uv.  8-10,  "  I  said, 
Surely,"  smlh  the  Lord,  "  this  is  a  people  that  will  not  lie."  Sueh 
professions  and  such  acknowledgments,  etc. ;  so  it  is  said,  "  In  all 
their  afiliclions  he  was  afflicted,  and  the  angel  of  his  presence  did 
redeem  them : "  but  afterward  "  they  rebelled,  and  vexed  hia 
Holy  Spirit."  They  cast  otT  the  government  of  the  Lord,  they 
would  not  he  under  the  bonds  of  tlie  Lord,  and  "  so  lie  was  turned 
to  be  their  enemy ; "  this  ia  that  which  brings  captivity  nnd  bond- 


I 


FOR  A    TIME   Ot- 


itic. Jer.  ii.  14,  15,  etc.,  "  Is  Israel  n  servant  ?  sailli  the  Lord." 
Ye  sliall  ste  the  reason  why  he  was  bo.  ''  I  have  broken  their 
iron  yoke,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  and  I  have  burat  thy  bond«,  an<l  L 
have  planted  ihee  a  noble  vine,  yet  hast  thou  degenerated  ; "  and 
this  is  that  which  doth  make  them  vassals  or  slaves.  And  in 
truth  you  never  see  churches  laid  desolate  ;  bul  when  that  time  • 
comes,  men  shall  see,  and  shall  profess  it./  "When  other  nations 
shall  ask.  Why  hath  the  Lord  dealt  thus  with  his  people  ?  the 
answer  shall  be  clear:  They  have  broken  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord.  When  many  miseries  eomc  upon  particular  persons,  what 
is  the  cause  of  it  ?  then  remember  the  covenant  thou  hast  broken 
with  the  Lord.  Is.  xsiv.  5,  6,  "They  have  transgressed  the  ' 
law,"  speaking  of  the  whole  eardi,  "  and  they  have  changed  their 
ordinances,  and  broken  the  everlasting  covenant."  A  people 
that  might  have  bad  everlasting  mercy,  they  would  not  submit 
to  tlie  Lord,  they  have  broken  this  everlasting  covenant  of  the 
Lord.  Now  what  follows  ?  "  The  earth  is  defiled  under  the 
inhabiinnis  tbereof;"  and  hence  heavy  things  that  arc  there 
written  shall  befall  the  whole  world.  It  id  a  sin  thnt  defiles  the 
earth  men  tread  on,  and  the  houses  men  inhabit  in,  for  it  is  a  sin 
against  most  light.  They  which  make  covenants  have  a  great 
deal  of  light,  and  also  most  will.  And  that  does  aggravate  a  sin ;  { 
H'hcn  the  whole  heart,  as  it  were,  does  give  ileelf  up  to  a  lust, 
and  breaks  hereby  all  bonds.  And  it  is  n  sin  that  men  might  . 
avoid,  if  they  would  be  watchful  agaiusL  For  it  is  a.  sinful 
thing  (o  make  a  covenant  of  impossible  things ;  therefore  it  lios 
heavy  on  the  conscience  of  men  afterward  i  I  might  have  been 
belter,  and  might  have  walked  heller.  Is'ay,  it  is  a  sin  that  does 
destroy  the  law  of  the  Lord:  this  sin  it  does  desli-oy  the 
very  will  of  Christ  Hadst  thou  never  been  bound  in  cov- 
enant, hadst  thou  laid  by  this  covenant,  the  will  of  God  had 
been  kept  whole.  As  cords  not  used  are  kept  whole,  hut  when 
broke  are  utterly  spoiled,  when  a  man  does  bind  himself  by  a 
covenant  to  the  Ixird,  and  then  break  it,  he  does  as  much  as  in 
him  lies  to  destroy  the  Lord  from  being  King. 

It  is  true  the  saints  and  people  of  God  may  bo  said  in  some 
case  to  break  covenant,  but  yet  they  never  impenileotly  break 
covenant  with  the  Lord;  they  may  break  covenant  with  the 
Lord  very  ollen,  but  yet  it  is  with  ihcm  a^  those  in  Judges  ii.  I, 
4.  When  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  to  them,  and  they  were 
under  grievous  sod  bondage,  sailh  he  to  them  from  the  Lord, 
"1  have  brought  you  upouiofihe  hind  of  Egypt,  and  I  have  broken 
your  bonds  ;  and  I  have  said  I  would  never  break  covenant  wiik 
you  :  and  I  said  you  shoubl  make  no  league  with  (he  Ctwaanites, 
vuL.  III.  27 


I 


but^e  Iwve  not  obeyed  mj  vok-e ;  why  have  ye  done  this?* 
And  all  the  people  heard  this;  and  it  is  said,  "  All  llie  peopla 
■wept."  Doubtless  eurae  were  sincere,  though  haply  many  were 
full  of  hypocrisy ;  and  so  the  suicere  heart  lamenia  it,  and  re* 
news  hia  covenant.  TLe  poor  eoul  hath  nothing  to  eaj  mnny 
times,  though  the  Lord  should  bring  never  so  much  misery  on  it ; 
yet  the  soul  stands  weeping  before  the  X^ord,  that  it  hath  broke 
the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  and  made  void  the  covenant  of  the 
Lord ;  yet  the  saints  ihey  never  break  it  wholly,  they  never  de- 
part wholly  from  the  Lord. 

Now,  when  a  people  shall  impeniicntly  break  covenant,  as  hath 
been  said,  that  men  can  study  arguments,  how  to  nullify  Christ's 
covenant;  nay,  worse,  when  in  covenant,  than  ever  before ;  and 
the  business  is,  ihey  are  loth  to  be  in  bends  i  when  men 
shall  grudge  the  truth  of  the  Lord,  others,  if  their  judgment  be 
not  set  jigainst  it,  yet  uol  with  standing,  in  deed  and  practice,  they 
live  OS  if  they  never  had  been  in  covenanL  Once  they  were  B 
pleasant  plant,  but  now  they  are  degenerated,  na  the  Lord  doth 
there  complain.  Beloved,  when  it  is  thus,  the  league  between  the 
Prince  of  Peace  and  ibe  church  is  broken ;  they  do,  as  much  as  in 
them  lies,  seek  to  cast  off  the  Lord  from  ruling  over  them. 

2.  When  there  be  additions  made  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ, 
by  human  ordinances  and  inventions  of  men  ;  let  nny  set  up  new 
w  invention  of  men,  ihcy  set  up  new  gods  ;  and 
they  do  as  subjects  set  up  new  kings,  wliicli  is  indeed  to  pull 
down  him  ihal  was,  and  so  ihcy  do  to  Jesus  Christ ;  they  do  deny 
tbe  supreme  headship  of  Clirtst,  and  his  authority  ovix-thcmj^ 
though  it  may  seem  a  small  thing,  yet  thus  it  is ;  and~Heiice  ye  snail 
observe  Jeroboam's  calves,  tliough  they  worshiped  the  same 
God  which  was  at  Jerusalem,  varying  only  in  circumstance;  yet 
the  Loi'd  prufesseih  that  they  had  set  up  new  gods,  and  so  indeed 
.  did  pull  down  the  true  God  and  bis  government  fn»m  over  ihem, 
and  ibis  brought  bondage.  And  hence,  (Col.  ii.  18,  IG,)  "  Let  no 
man  beguile  you  of  your  reward  with  a  volunlnry  humihty,"  saith 
the  apostle,  "  and  worshiping  of  angels,  intruding  into  those  things 
which  he  bath  not  seen,"  etc. 

Whatsoever  pretense  be  upon  the  inventions  of  men,  take  heed 
of  that  i  if  it  be  the  inventions  of  men,  (in  ver.  Id,)  and  not 
holding  the  head ;  the  very  headship  of  Christ  is  denied,  and  the 
ground  is  this :  to  say  that  Christ  is  not  a  sufficient  means  of  sal- 
vation, of  saving  his  people  and  ruling  his  people,  it  is  to  deny 
tlie  headship  of  Cbrist ;  and  likewise  to  say,  that  Christ  hath  not 
appointed  fur  his  people  suincient  means  for  that  end,  is  lo  say 
that  Clirist  is  not  a  sufficient  means  to  rule  his  people ;  and  he 
that  iball  say  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  auffident  meaiM|  he  «k>es  deny 


1 


POB   A   TIME   OP   LIBERTT.  315 

the  heai]ibip  of  ChrisL  Now,  to  set  up  any  iuvenlions  of  men 
in  ihe  worship  of  GoJ,  to  be  a  means  lo  carry  (he  lienrt 
to  God,  is  to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  halb  not  appointed 
sufficient  means  for  liiat  end ;  and  therefore  lie  is  not  a  Bulli- 
ciuut  means  of  guiding,  and  saving,  and  ruling  hi»  people. 
Nay,  this  I  will  add :  let  there  be  any  invention  addeil  to  the 
worship  of  Goil,  that  is  merely  the  will  of  man ;  nothing  else, 
hut  only  this  I  would  have  ye  do  it ;  ihey  are  such  things  as  do 
neither  make  a  man  better  nor  wonge,  but  only  use  them,  and  ye 
arc  commanded  to  use  ihem,  and  nothing  but  the  will  of  man. 
This  is  lo  eet  up  a  new  Christ,  and  to  pull  down  tlie  power  of  Christ 
Jesus,  lo  submit  herein  to  the  authority  of  man,  merely  beeause 
of  the  will  of  man,  that  there  is  nothing  seen  hut  his  will.  There 
is  (it  may  be)  ndther  good  nor  hurt  in  it;  it  is  to  moke  that 
man  n  God  and  Christ ;  it  is  peculiar  lo  Christ  to  do  it,  and  this 
does  puH  down  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  liis  throne  ;  when 
there  is  adding  to  the  worship  of  Ihe  Lord.  I  need  not,  J  aup- 
\toae,  speak  any  thing  this  way ;  only  remember  to  be  watch- 
I'ul  against  this  :  when  the  Lord  doth  send  temptations  this  way 
into  churches,  or  into  any  place,  be  watchful  agaiuet  new  tn- 
venlions  of  men  tu  be  added  or  made ;  they  are  very  sinful ;  and 
if  ye  ask  me  when  we  shall  look  lor  such  limes,  I  need  not  go 
fur  from  ray  text. 

It  is  said  that  "  Reboboam  and  all  the  people  walked  in  the 
worship  of  the  Lord  three  years;"  but  in  one  year  Rehoboam 
and  all  the  people  fell  off  from  the  worship  of  the  Lord.  O, 
therefore  luke  heed  of  this  when  the  temptation  comes.  1. 
Wlien  the  Lord  bows  the  hearts  of  those  in  authority,  men  of 
eminuncy  to  fall  this  way,  then  multitudes  follow ;  as  ver.  1,  Re- 
hoboam sinned  and  Israel  with  him.  2.  When  persecution  aris- 
e(h  for  the  truth,  (Gal.  v.  12,)  "They  must  be  circumcised  to  avyjiL 
persecution."  3./Whcn  men's  hearts  ate  surfeited  with  the  ordi- 
nances of  God,  and  weary  of  them,  when  the  ordinances  of  tho 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  men  lind  no  beneSt  by  them,  the  heart  of  man 
will  tlicn  be  making  out  after  something  of  its  own ;  then  we 
must  look  for  apostles,  prophets,  and  evangelists,  and  this  curios- 
ity, and  the  other  nicely  ;  then  a  conceit  and  imaginary  picture 
of  a  man's  own  is  more  beautiful  than  all  God's  ordinances  be- 
sides, and  all  religion  is  plaeed  there  ;  it  may  be  in  extending  too 
far  any  ordinance  itself,  though  it  may  seeui  little  at  first ;  yel 
«heu  it  is  thus,  then  look  for  evil  limes.  ..^ 

^,  Whciias  a  people  seek  to  abolish  and  destroy  any  ordinance 
of  Christ,  but  especially  if  on  Ibis  ground,  either  l>ecaust!  of 
some  outward  evil  they  bring  with  tltem,  in  tlie  fruition  of  theiOf 


316 


.  of  them  ;    ^H 


I 


I 


or  hope  of  some  outwanl  gwxl  tbcy  elinlt  receive  by  casting 
off,  or  becnuee  of  no  good  tliey  reap  by  ihe  enjoyment  of 
whensoever  ye  se^  (lib,  that  they  are  cast  off  on  (his  ground,  then 
looi;  for  bondage  ;  for  it  will  come  on  whole  countries  in  general, 
and  no  parlicular  persons ;  for  Jesus  Clirist  is  in  his  ordinances,  and 
his  throne  is  not  only  in  heaven,  among  the  angels,  but,  (Is.  \x.  7— 
9,)  "  He  silB  on  the  throne  of  David,"  among  his  church  and 
people  ;  and  pull  these  down,  you  pull  down  Christ's  throne,  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  when  ye  pull  down  liis  ordinances.  1  John  ii. 
19,  There  were  many  that  ilid  seem  to  be  for  Christ,  and  yet 
aguinst  Christ :  thi^  ia  one  sign  by  which  he  notes  them  :  "*  They 
went  out  from  us,  for  ihoy  were  not  of  us ;  that  it  might  be  made 
manifest  they  were  not  of  us."  Now,  I  say,  when  men  shall  puU 
down  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  and  withdraw  themselves  from 
the  communion  of  saints,  and  when  it  is  for  one  of  these  ends,  in 
regard  of  some  outward  evil  that  the  ordinances  do  bring  with 
ttiem,  or  eorae  outward  good  they  shall  get  by  calling  them  off, 
then  cerlninly  look  for  bondage.  As  a  prince  that  hath  one  near 
him,  he  rony  attempt  change  of  things  in  state  ;  but  when  he  is 
set  a-work  by  a  foreign  state,  and  is  a  prisoner  to  the  pope  or 
Spaniard,  now  he  is  real  to  root  out  the  prince  ;  and  this  provokes. 
So  here  many  times  a  Christian,  he  may  in  conscience  speak 
against  some  of  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  this  may  be  the  con- 
dition of  the  saints  and  people  of  God,  and  they  may  speak  it  in 
conscience ;  and  tliis  may  be  tolerated,  when  it  is  Ibr  want  of 
light ;  nay,  they  may,  through  stubbornness  of  spirit,  cast  off  or- 
dinances 1  but  when  now  it  is  for  this  reason,  though  he  hath  in- 
deed his  colors  for  it,  you  shall,  saith  Satan,  have  this  gain,  and 
this  ease,  and  these  conveniences ;  and  what  do  you  do  with  or- 
dinances ?  And  now  a  man  begins  to  find  out  arguments ;  and 
saith  Satan,  If  ye  attend  to  the  enjoyment  of  ordinunces,  here  be 
these  miseries;  therefore  away  with  some  of  God's  ordinances,  at 
leaaL  0  brethren,  when  it  is  thus,  that  there  is  this  secret  pension 
from  the  world,  that  now  had  the  Lord  Jesus  the  honors  of  tha 
world  attending  on  them,  then  they  could  make  much  of  them ; 
but  because  they  come  with  poverty,  therefore  they  can  plot 
and  speak  against  them,  and  in  time  come  to  cast  off  tlie  ordi- 
nances of  ihe  Lord  Jesus.  It  b  certain  the  Lord  hath  bondage 
for  such  souls,  and  you  will  certainly  find  this  true  one  day. 
^  Mai.  iii.  14,  15,  The  people,  they  say,  "What  profit  is  it  thai 
'  we  have  served  the  Lord,  and  that  we  have  walked  mournfully 
before  him?"  And  hence  they  forsook  the  Lord;  hence  (chiip. 
iv.  1)  the  Lord  threatens  that  "  he  will  bum  them  up,  both  root 
Mtd  bnuieh."     The  Lord  hath  consuming  fire  for  such  one  day. 


I 


1 


I 


FOR   A   TniE 


317 


asilj  Tor  jou.     Mark 
lets  il  out  I o  I) usbtu Ill- 
last  the  Son  him^eir 
ere  ia  the  sou;  let  U« 
It  of  gain,  that  is  the  busi- 
n."     Here  is  this  gain  lo 
t  off  Christ :  "  What  v  " 
will  lake  away  hia  vii 

religione  polenlttn- 


The  orainani^cs  of  the  Lord  were  too  ( 
xii.  7,  8,  The  Lonl  haiU  his  vineyard ;  he 
Dien,  anil  he  ^ends  far  the  fruit;  lud  at 
comes  to  call  for  fruiL     Now  say  lliey,  *'  I 
killbim.-'    Why,  what  is  the  matter  Fo 
ness  i  "  that  the  inheritance  may  be  oi 
lie  without  them,  and  therefore  to  cil 
the  Lord  do  to  these  husbandmen  ?  hi 
yard  from  them,"  etc. 

It  is  llie  B|>eech  of  Luther,  Ventrr  in  > 
mnmidolum.  (When  the  belly  is  served,  Christ  must  be  destroyed.) 
AIi-ii  may  have  this  quiet  life  without  these  ordinances ; 
hence  men  bear  a  privy  grudge  against  the  ordinances  of  the 
liord,  because  the  belly  is  not  served.  Look  us  il  was  with  thfl 
Jews  1  they  looked  for  a  glorious  king  to  come  to  them,  and 
Christ  came  :  and  though  they  were  told  of  it  before,  when  h« 
came  he  bad  nothing  but  his  cross;  nnd  he  lells  them,  if  they 
will  be  his  disciples,  they  must  take  bis  cross.  But  now,  becHUse 
he  came  not  with  pomp,  but  only  with  his  cross,  this  is  the  gnml 
rciLson  why,  to  this  day,  the  Jews  do  set  themselves  against  lliti 
Lord  Jesus  Christ :  the  cross  came  with  Christ,  that  is  the  cnuso 
of  it.  So  when  men  shall  look  for  great  things  from  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ,  and  when  they  come  to  enjoy  them,  they  meet 
with  nothing  else  but  Christ  and  his  cross,  and  disappointinenli, 
and  desertions ;  when  they  meet  with  this,  then  Christ  is  cast 
off,  and  they  profess  he  is  no  king,  and  Cicsar  is  our  king ;  and 
if  we  take  Uiis  man  to  be  our  king,  the  Romans  will  ruin  us. 

I  know  it  is  a  hard  trial  for  a  mtui  to  be  put  to  such  a  strait ; 
for  ilie  Lord  to  nilvnncc  the  price  of  his  ordinances  at  that  high 
rate,  that  all  roust  be  parted  with  fur  the  enjoyment  uf  iheiiii 
But  yol,  notwillistunding,  he  is  forever  unworthy  to  have  the  Lord 
Jcfua  to  rule  him,  that  shall  therefore  make  him  a  king  as  they 
did.  (John  vi.)  He  was  ihelr  cook ;  therefore  tbey  made  hiia 
king.  Therefore  this  I  s&y.  Take  heed  of  disputing  against,  or 
denying,  or  iiulliryiDg,  nut  only  outwardly,  but  in  thy  very  heart, 
seci'eily,  any  of  God's  ordinances;  fur  thai  ihu  Lord  complains 
of  his  peo|iIe,  thai  "  their  hearts  went  after  their  wickedness."  O, 
take  heed  of  doing  thus  uguin:^!  any  one  of  U(>d*a  ordiniuicea,  be- 
cause straits  do  attend  on  tliem.  It  was  the  speech  of  David, 
( Ps.  cxii.,)  "  Thy  law  is  pure :  therefore  thy  servant  lovatb  iu" 
SupiKise  thou  shouldeet  never  get  any  good  by  any  of  God'a 
ordinances ;  yet  "  thy  law  is  pure  ;  "  the  fault  is  in  thy  own  heart ; 
and  certainly  the  Lord  he  will  remember,  as  there  he  speakelii, 
(Jer.  ii.  2,1  "I  rememb«r  the  lov«  of  thine  esitousals,  when  thoa 
27" 


318  A    WUOLF.SOSIE   CAVKAT 

didet  foUovr  me  in  a  Innd  of  barreiiiiess,  in  a  land  where  ihera 
WHS  no  WHier."  Thy  lif'i;  shuH  be  precious  to  the  Lord,  that  shall 
follow  tbe  Lord  in  all  ufltietion^ ;  yet  thy  heart  doth  cleave  to  ibe 
Lord,  and  follow  the  Lord  in  all  his  ordinances ;  therefore  this 
is  that  I  would  say.  there  are  many  wants  now  in  the  country. 
llut  yet,  notwithstanding,  let  llie  people  of  God  get  near  to 
Christ ;  speak  often  o»e  U>  another,  and  6nd  out  ways  and  means 
to  pay  your  debts,  and  lie  down  at  the  feet  of  the  Lord  Jesug, 
and  be  content,  if  the  Lord  will  have  it  so,  to  be  nothing,  be  con- 
tent thus ;  and  though  ihou  dost  not  find  any  benelit  from  ilia 
ordinance  of  the  I^ord  as  yet,  yel.  notwithstanding,  loathe  thy 
own  heart,  but  love  ihem ;  yet  seek  after  the  Lord,  and  look  lo 
the  Lord  in  ihem.  And  ihis  is  certain,  tlie  Lord  hath  blessings 
for  hid  people  ;  not  only  in  this  life,  but  as  he  there  speaketh  to 
his  disciples,  when  they  say  to  him,  Lord,  what  shall  we  have  ? 
saith  the  Lord  to  them,  You  that  have  R>llowed  me,  you  shall  »it 
on  thrones.  But  take  heed  of  this,  if  once  ye  come  to  slight 
ordinances,  and  cast  off  ordinances,  because  of  these  straits  and 
wants,  and  so  forth.  And  what  are  your  ordinances,  etc.  ?  and  a 
generation  of  men  risen  up  (I  think  Christians  should  send  forth 
their  groanings  to  the  Lord,  that  the  terror  fif  the  Lord  may  fall 
upon  them)  they  deny  all  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
Spirit  must  teacli  us  only.  It  is  true  the  Spirit  mu^t  do  it,  but 
will  ye  iheretbre  lake  away  the  means?  and  hence  the  very 
Seripiure  is  made  an  alphabet  for  children,  and  so  they  do  destroy 
the  ordinances  of  the  Lui'd.  Beloved,  if  it  he  from  this  princi- 
ple, lake  heed  of  it ;  for  if  it  be,  ye  will  certainly  And  bondage. 

4.  When  men  do  not  thus  pull  down  ihe  ordinanceii,  the  throns 
of  Christ,  but  drive  the  Lord  JesUs  away  out  of  his  ordinances 
(though  ihey  have  his  ordinances  wiih  them)  by  Iheir  secret 
defilings,  pollutions,  spiritual  pollutions  of  the  glorious  ordinances 
of  Christ  1  this  tlie  Lord  frequently  complaineih  of  in  Jeremiah 
and  }<rf!ekiel.  The  very  great  retison  why  the  Lord  did  leave  his 
temple,  where  their  fathers  did  praise  the  Lord,  they  had  polluted 
and  deliled  it ;  that  was  the  reason  of  il.  They  had  driven  the 
Lord  away  from  his  throne,  and  ihis  dolh  pull  down  the  princely 
power  of  the  Lord,  in  his  churches.  1  know  there  be  many 
sins  and  delilemcnts )  and  the  sons  of  men  have  bidden  ways  of 
polluting  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord,  that  a  man  shall  sil  under 
all  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  ;  and  as  it  is  said  of  Mount  Gil- 
boah,  not  any  dew  fall  u[>on  him;  never  see  good  when  good 
comufl !  the  Lord  is  not  dear,  that  is  ihc  reason  of  it.  O,  thy  sc- 
OTflt  detilementB  of  Ihe  ordinances  of  the  Lord  have  driven  ihe 
Lord  for  from  you.     There  are  many  ;  I  shall  only  name  three 

"    UpKlly,  ihnl  there  may  be  a  little  hecil  laken  of  them. 


I 


FOB    A    TISTE    OP    LIBEIITT.  319 

First.  ^Thcl]  there  is  a  secret  contempt,  grown  upon  a  man's 
spirit,  of  the  ordinances  of  Clirist,  arti^nded  with  a  secret  weari' 
neiO  of  lliem,  this  dotli  now  [wllute  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord, 
and  this  doth  drive  the  Lord  from  his  ordinances.  MaJ.  i.  7, 
"  Ye  have  offered  polluted  bread  ;  wherein  have  we  done  it  ?  "  say 
they.  This  was  the  cause  of  it :  '■  Ye  s&y  that  the  table  of  the 
Lord  is  contemptible  ;  "  the  meaning  is,  you  do  despise  roy  table 
and  ordinances,  and  so  now  do  despise  me  too,  and  so  ye  do  vilify 
and  contemn  the  ontinances  of  the  Lord,  f  herefore  saith  the 
Lord,  in  the  conclusion  of  that  chapter,  (ver.  11,)  "  From  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  my  name  it  shall  be  known."  As  if  he  should 
say,  I  am  not  bound  to  you  ;  I  ciin  have  a  people  among  whom 
my  nume  shall  be  great ;  for  saith  the  Lord,  "  I  am  a  great  King." 
If  one  should  have  asked  men  in  those  days,  What  goo*l  is  in 
your  sacrifices  ?  what  great  glory  can  ye  see  in  them  'f  ihe  saints 
can  see  a  great  deal  of  glory  in  moan  outaides.  Now,  when  this 
ia  wanting,  the  name  of  the  I^rd  is  polluted,  and  so  the  Lord 
driven  from  his  ordinances,  lleb.  xii.  1 5,  "  Take  heed  lest  there 
be  in  any  of  yoti  an  evil  root  of  biilerness  springing  up,  and  many 
thereby  bo  defiled."  Wien  men  do  live  in  secret  lusis,  or  open 
profuneness,  a  man  that  hath  a  profane  heart,  such  a  heart  as 
doth  contemn  the  portion  of  mercy  Ihe  Lord  doth  offer  to  him, 
who,  like  Esau,  did  sell  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage. 

(Secondly.  Unbrokenness  of  heart  in  the  enjoyment  of  ordi- 
nances, when  men  live  not  in  a  daily  sense  of  the  extreme  need 
they  stand  in  of  mercy.  Is.  Ixvi.  1,  2,  "  Heaven  is  my  throne,  and 
the  cnrih  is  my  footstool,"  Now,  observe  what  the  Lord  doth  there 
■peuk:  To  him  will  I  look  that  is  poor  in  spirit,  etc.,  contrite  ; 
such  n  ])oor  soul,  aaith  the  Lord,  will  I  look  lo.  And  to  theae 
are  opposed  stii-h  as  have  not  such  hearts,  but  do  look  only  to  the 
ordinant^s  of  the  Lord.  Now  saith  the  Lord  to  snch,  "  !Ie  that 
olTereih  a  lamb  is  as  if  he  cut  off  a  dog's  neck  ;  and  he  that  offer- 
eth  incense,  as  he  that  blesselh  an  idol."  These  were  a  people 
that  did  plead  for  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  had  the  ordinances 
of  the  Lord  according  to  his  command;  but  here  was  their  wound, 
ihey  were  uot  broken  under  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord.  This 
you  shall  And.  the  saints  have  many  sins  and  wants  under  (he 
ordinances  of  Ihe  Irt>rd ;  but  little  doc^  the  world  know  their 
gronnings  before  the  Lonl ;  and  the  Lord  hath  mercy  for  such 
souls  as  are  sensible  of  their  need  they  stand  in  of  the  ordinaoras 
of  the  Lord. 

Itui  now,  when  men  have  found  ihc  Lord  in  an  ordinance  sub- 
duing some  particular  sin,  there  are  other  sins  remaining  in  their 
bcarts,  and  they  stand  unremovable  in  their  hearts,  and  bencQ 


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I 


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820  A    VTHOLI^SOME   CAVEAT 

are  the  etrongCBt  and  dearest  of  all  ihe  rest.  Now,  I  snj,  when 
men  having  these  sina,  aud  knowing  lhe?e  sins  in  their  hearts 
and  spirits  ;  whenas,  becaui^e  I  ran  not  subdue  these  sins ;  and 
thej  have  attended  on  the  Lord  in  the  use  of  means,  and  the 
Lard  helps  them  not ;  and  because  they  hope  to  be  Kaved  at  last 
for  all  these;  hence  1  he j  coma  to  a  truce  with  their  ain,  and 
never  go  mourning  to  the  Lord ;  nor  say,  the  Lord  hath  begun 
to  subdue  some  of  their  lusts.  Now,  Lord,  go  on,  but  the  soul 
is  at  truce  with  his  sins.  Beloved,  if  there  be  any  pollution  of 
the  ordinances  of  the  Lord,  here  it  is :  that  men  come  with  un- 
broken hearts  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  i  that  never  feel 
your  need  of  them,  and  wounds  and  sores  tliat  are  in  your  hearts, 
that  men  do  stand  with  those  very  sins,  that  tbey  think  they 
can  not  subdue :  and  because  they  can  sot  ease  themselves  of 
tliem,  therefore  they  give  way  to  them.  When  men  keep  these 
eins  with  unsensible  hearts  of  them,  ye  do  resist  the  Moly 
Ghost,  ye  feel  not  your  need  of  the  Lord ;  therefore  ye  keep 
your  sins,  and  your  woes  you  shall  have  for  them. 

Thirdly.  Where  there  is  a  spirit  of  unbelief,  that  there  is  not 
a  seeking  to  Christ  Jesus,  to  wash  away  the  pollutions  of  his 
heart  and  life,  in  his  attending  upon  the  Lord  in  his  ordinances. 
Tit.  i.  15,  "To  the  uiibeliiiving  nothing  is  pure;  but  even 
their  mind  and  conscience  is  detiled."  £xod.  xxx.  29,  it  is 
said,  "  Every  thing  that  touched  the  altar  was  clean,"  and 
bence,  without  this,  all  is  unclean.  When  a  poor, soul  shall  i»mQ 
to  the  Lord's  ordinances,  and  prepare  himself  before  he  come, 
and  in  all  it  hath  many  weaknesses,  yet  it  doth  leave  itself  with 
Jesua  Christ,  every  thing  tlial  doth  touch  this  altar  is  sanctified, 
and  is  not  polluted.  But  now,  when  men  shall  enjoy  ordinances, 
and  make  no  great  matter  of  sins  in  ordinances,  especially  if 
secret,  such  is  the  venomous  nature  of  sin,  it  doth  defile  the 
earth  a  man  doth  tread  on.  Now,  when  men  shall  have  these 
sins,  and  know  them,  and  yet  never  leave  themselves  with 
Christ,  and  lay  themselves  oit  this  blessed  altar  by  faith,  lliey 
do  pollute  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord. 

Fourthly.  When  the  soul  doth  not  so  openly,  manifestly  drive 
away  the  Lord,  but  when  men  shall  come  to  the  ordinances, 
and  never  come  to  the  Lord  Jesus  in  them,  now  the  LoM  is 
eiut  off.  A  great,  prince  that  comes  to  a  man's  house,  though  he 
be  not  driven  out  of  doors,  yet  if  not  attondcd  on,  he  accounts 
himself  cast  off.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  in  his  ordinances; 
(Eitek.  slviii.  35,)  "  The  Lord  is  there  ; "  the  saints,  they  come 
to  God  in  them,  and  are  carried  to  him  by  them.  Therefore  it  is 
said,  <  (Acts  s.  33,  S4,)  "  Now,  therefore,  we  are  all  present 


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FOB   A   TIME    OF    LmEIITT.  321 

""tjeTore  GoJ,  to  bi!ftr  all  tilings  [hat  are  commanded  the«  of  God," 
anil,  (I's.  Ixxxiv.  7,)  "  Every  utio of  ihcm  in  Ziuii  nppeiiretb  before 
God."  Now,  tlie  Bointa  and  people  of  God,  when  they  do  thus 
vooie  to  (he  Lord,  they  find  many  difiicultJea  to  break  through, 
"a  valley  of  Baca."  Sumetiraes  ibeir  bearl  is  turned  from  (lie 
Lord,  and  sometimes  God  13  turned  from  them  ;  m  thai  new, 
the  saints,  when  ihey  do  come  to  the  Lord  in  his  ordinant'es, 
"  they  go  through  the  valley  of  Baca,"  that  Ihey  may- see  God 
in  Zion.  But  now,  when  men  do  never  break  through  difficulties, 
but  gire  way  to  a  sluggish  heart,  when  it  \i  thus  jvith  a  people, 
it  ia  certain  the  Lord  is  now  cast  oflj  and  ye  do  as  good  now  aa 
live  withouu  Christ  in  the  world.  (Amos  v.  21.)  Saith  the 
Lord,  "  I  bate  your  new  moons  and  Sabbalhs  ;  for  these  forty 
years  ye  never  sacrificed  to  me."  (Ver.  25.)  Did  they  not  sacri- 
fice those  forty  years  to  the  Lord  in  tbe  wilderness?  It  was  tlio 
very  thing  they  came  out  of  Egypt  for,  ibat  they  might  aacriHee 
to  (he  Lord ;  yet  saith  the  Lord,  Ye  did  not  sacnfice  to  me ; 
truly  here  was  the  thing,  ibey  did  Bacritii:e,  but  to  enjoy  com- 
munion with  a  God,  that  they  did  not ;  tlie  Lord  he  saw  none  of 
that ;  and  this  is  tbe  frame  of  many  a  man,  ye  never  beard  K 
sermon  1  ye  nerer  broke  through  your  difficulties  to  come  to  a 
God  in  ordinances ;  therefore,  in  truth,  though  you  had  them, 
yet  it  is  as  if  you  never  had  tbem,  because  ye  never  did  enjoy 
tlie  Lord  in  ihem. 

Therefore    ibis    is    that  I  would    say:    O  brethren,  let  the 

s^unifi,  lot  it  be  tlie  care  of  all  the  faithlul  and  people  of  God ; 

(lie  Hrst  thing  that  ye  do,  before  yc  come  to  hear  a  sermon,  or 

receive  a  Bacramcnt,  or  to  any  Christian  communion,  or  other 

ordinance  of  God;  before  thou  dost  come,  endeavor  it  at  least 

IP        to  bring  thy  soul  lu  a  God,  to  Christ,  above  all  ordinances,  and 

break  through  (ho  ditficulties;  heart  is  dead,  and  mind  b  blind, 

and  God  is  gone  ;  but  yet  break  through  difficulties,  iind  vrrcstis 

with  (lie  Lord  in  prayer,  and  then  ye  will  find  the  blessing  of 

the  Lord.     The  great  reason  why  we  enjoy  not  that  mighty 

presence  of  the  Lord  in  his  ordinances,  it  is  this  ;  men  eome  to 

ordinances,  and  would  enjoy  ordinances,  but  they  never  broke 

through  dlfflciil^esi,  (o  come  (o  a  God.     When  men  ahall  eome  to 

ordiiuuices  only,  (and  blessed  be  God  we  have  the  temple  of 

L       the  Lord,)  truly  this  will  do  you  no  good  in  tbe  world. 

I  The  flAh  degree  of  casting  olf  the  supreme  power  of  Christ 

I       in  hit  ordinances;  many  times  when  the  soul  can  not  come  to 

H      Christ,  the  Lord  comes  to  iL     Now,  then,  the  supreme  power 

H     of  Christ  ia  cast  olf,  when  the  soul  is  unwilling  or  careless,  to 

H     receive  (be  stroke  of  the  eternal  power  of  tbe  life  of  Jgbus  into 


A   WQOLESOUe   CATEAT 

hia  heart ;  but  contents  himself  with  some  bpfiinninga, 

and  tafle?,  and  dolh  not  lie  under  ihc  stroke  of  ihe  elcriint  spirit 

of  the  life  of  Christ. 

Look  as  it  is  iriih  a  company  of  subjects ;  Ihej' 
great  town,  that  stands  it  out  a^unat  a  prince ;  if  the  pHnce 
send  to  them,  and  tliey  parley  witli  him,  and  lliey  are  thankful 
for  his  gifVs,  and  glad  of  his  parlt^y  ;  but  yet,  notwithstanding 
ihej  are  unwilling  to  receive  the  prince,  with  all  bis  power  to 
come  into  the  town ;  if  they  be  unwilling  to  do  tliat,  and  are 
lotli  to  join  sides  against  ihe  other  party,  tbey  citst  him  oS 
from  being  king.  '  So  it  is  here ;  when  men  cose  to  the  Lord  in 
ordinances,  tbo  Lord  he  parleys  with  them,  the  Lord  be  sends 
promises,  and  they  are  marvelous  precious  things ;  and  they 
have  some  lasle  of  what  the  Lord  docs  send,  and  it  is  sweet  to 
ihem ;  but  now,  because  Ibcy  have  lusts  in  their  hearts,  the 
Lord  saith,  Alake  war  against  thy  lust,  and  open  the  gates  that  I 
may  come  in.  If  so  be,  a  man,  now  out  of  secret  love  to  his 
sin,  he  content  himself  with  the  promises  of  Cbrist ;  but  the 
hie  uf  Christ,  he  cares  not  for  that,  he  ases  not  alt  means  that 
he  may  find  that,  the  supreme  pon'er  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  now 
cast  off,  and  1  know  no  difference  between  such  a  people  uud 
Capernaum;  tbey  did  enjoy  the  gospel  of  GikI,  but  now  to  eiv- 
leriain  Llie  Lord  Jesus  iu  his  spiritual  power,  this  they  were 
loth  to  come  lo ;  therefore  siuth  the  Lord,  "  Woe  to  ihe^,  Ca- 
pernaum ;  the  mighty  work  of  Jesus  Christ  in  their  hearia, 
this  ihey  never  cared  for.  Saith  the  apostle,  (_2  Cor.  x.  5.)  "  Tha 
weapons  of  our  warfare,  ihcy  are  mighty  llirough  God."  A» 
poor  tilings  as  you  think  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  to  he,  they 
are  mighty  through  the  Lord.  Wtien  Clirislians  shall  not  he- 
willing  to  receive  this  mighty  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
truly,  now  the  kingdom  of  Cbrist  is  cast  ofl'.  John  vi,  49,  "  Your 
fathers  ate  raaiina  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  dead ; "  that  was_ 
outward  manna  ;  hut  he  that  ealeth  me  shall  live  forever. 

In  one  word  thus  :  this  is  certom,  a  man  never  gels  good  by 
any  ordinance,  nor  the  Lord  Jesus  doth  never  attain  his  end  in 
any  ordinance,  till  there  be  an  everlasting  power  and  life  of 
Christ  Jesus  commi^icated  by  the  ordinance.  "  There,"  saiih  he, 
"  God  commanduth  his  blessing,  life  fbrcvermore,"  (Ps.  cxxxiii. ;) 
mercy  forever  teaching  j  and  humbling  forever  continuing ; 
and  a  man  will  never  think  he  doll)  receive  any  good  till  he  doth 
iL  For  if  a  man  be  healed  of  his  blindness,  and  be  blind 
presently  again,  what  is  be  tbti  better  ?  So,  if  a  man  hath  some 
dash  of  light  in  the  ordinance,  Me^i  the  Lord  fur  it.  The  Lord 
qtiickena  up  tlte    heart  to  walk  with  the  Lord,  blessed  be  tlie 


I 
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fi'eKng.  1 


Lord  for  it ;  ay,  but  when  the  heart  now  shall  lose  that  life,  and 
rpnglh  nhich  it  hai],  (nol  but  that  a  Christian  dovi  lose  to  hia 
eJing,  but  it  will  return  again.)  When  he  is  a-hearing,  some  aSvu- 
tion,  but  lie  goes  anay  dead  ae  he  came  ;  do,  bat  when  the  Lord 
comes  by  hia  everlasting  power  and  mercy,  and  life  in  any  ordi- 
nance, now  Christ  comes  in  hb  power,  and  now  ye  receive  the  . 
King  in  his  power,  and  Christ  attains  his  end  in  the  ordinance. 
This  is  all  that  I  would  say,  I  do  beseech  you  brethren  in  tlie 
Lord  Se»as  Christ :  O,  seek  for  ihis  blessed  life,  everlasting  life 
Lord,  everlasting  power  Lord ;  beg  for  that,  and  seek  for  that, 
nnd  pray  for  that,  and  weep  for  that ;  do  not  content  thyself 
with  sippings  and  tastings;  loo):  for  everlasting  life  and  power 
to  cone  with  the  ordinance ;  though  means  be  weak  in  them* 
selves,  do  not,  therefore,  vilify  them.  Look  upon  the  brazen 
seri>ent ;  what  a  {loor  thing  was  that  to  bcal  ihi;  people  thai  were 
KtungI  Tel  the  instituiion  of  Christ  did  put  virtue  into  it: 
BO  do  thou  attend  on  the  ordinances,  and  never  be  conlenl  till 
thoii  doest  tind  the  Lord,  and  feel  the  Lord,  and  say  as  some 
have  said.  Though  I  feel  not  the  Lord  now  as  I  have  done,  yet  I 
think  I  shall  forever  bless  the  Lord.  Never  be  content  till  ye 
find  the  Lord  bringing  your  heart  to  this  pass,  and  then  the  King 
of  glory,  the  Prince  of  Peace  is  come  ;  though  ye  find  not  the 
fame  power  at  all  times,  yet  if  ye  find  that  power  which  does 
tnuru  your  heart  forever  to  bless  the  Lord,  here  is  everlasting 
power.  Jesus  is  now  come  to  thy  soul ;  ay,  but  when  ye  content 
yourselves  with  some  movings  and  beginnings,  and  sin  and 
Snian^oa  strong  again  as  ever,  and  ye  find  not  your  sin  wasting 
and  consuming,  in  truth  the  Lord  Jesus  is  cast  oS*,  and  ye  have 
not  the  end  for  which  ye  come  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord. 
But  then  ye  are  blessed  forever  when  ye  find  this.'^ 

2.  There  is  a  derivative  power  of  Christ  to  the  church,  jointly 
c<;asid(! red  together.    Mutt.xviii.  17, "  Go  and  tell  the  church,"  is  ^ 
the  highest  tribunal  Christ  hath  on  earth  in  the  kingdom  of  saints. 
It  ia  Christ's  hiffh  co^rt  n(  jmrliiunnut,  beyond  which  there  ii  no  ap- 
jiral  to  any  higher  power  than  the  church ;  and  it  can  not  be  ^ 
niciuit  of  the  officers  of  tlie  church  (which  is  the  fairest  inter- 
pretation.)    For  the  case  may  be  thni  there  is  but  one  officer; 
and  is  he  the  church  ?  oa  also  that  he  may  sin,  and  nol  hear 
of  his  sin ;  and  mu.«t  they  leave  him  to  himself,  at  least  to  judge 
of  his  un  ?     The  power  of  keys  was  given  to  Peter,  quia  JidelU,'' 
and  the  power  to  bind  and  loose  to  '■  two  or  three  gathered  togetlicr 
in  Christ's  name,"  (Matt,  xviii.  ;)  but  these  things  are  known. 

For  the  clearing  up  of  Ihis,  know  ihiit  there  is  ft  threefold 
derivative  power,  which   the  Lord  hath  given   lo  the  church 


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jointly,  and  not  to  elders  only  ;  which  may  be  miserably  abused, 
and  so  provoke  the  Lord  to  lake  it  oway  from  their  bands  till 
they  know  better  bow  to  use  it ;  yet  when  it  is  used  according  to 
Christ,  now  not  to  be  under  the  power  of  it,  which  ia  Christ, 
power  delegated  to  il,  is  lo  cast  off  Christ's  government.  And  I 
am  confident  the  bondage  of  all  the  churches  in  Christendom,  if 
ye  examine  the  churches,  is  continued,  because  the  Lord  sees 
hearts  unwilling  to  submit  to  him  in  the  govenuacnt  of  churches, 
and  will  continue  it  till  churches  know  how  to  use  it,  and  men  lie 
down  to  the  power  of  it. 

1.  They  have  a  power  given  them  from  Clirist  of  opening  and 
Ehutting  the  doors  of  the  church,  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth ; 
i.  e.,  of  letting  in  sin  and  keeping  out  any,  according  to  Christ, 
into,  or  out  of,  their  communion  :  and  this  I  conceive  to  be  one 
part  of  the  power  of  the  keys,  committed  to  the  church ;  the 
chief  office  of  which  is  to  open  and  shut ;  lo  receive  in,  and 
keep  out,  according  to  Christ ;  and  hence  the  three  thousand 
were  added  to  the  church,  though  the  apostles  were  guides  there- 
in !  and  Acta  ix.  26,  Paul  would  have  joined  himself,  but  they 
would  not  accept  of  him,  because  they  were  afraid  of  him.  Na 
body,  natural  or  politic,  but  tliey  have  power  to  receive  to  tltem 
the  useful,  and  keep  from  Ihem  the  hurtful ;  so  much  more 
Christ's  spiritual  Ijody.  And  hence  the  church  of  Ephesus  is 
commended,  (Rev.  ii.  2,)  together  with  their  angel,  "  Ibr  trying 
tliose  that  seemed  good,  and  were  not." 

Now, it  is  tnie  this  power  maybe  miserably  abused  in  opening 
doors  too  wide,  or  locking  them  up  too  long,  or  too  fast;  and  ia 
many  sad  disorders  this  way,  yet  there  is  this  power.  Now,  when 
men  shall  refuse  church  trial,  and  so  communion  with  the  church, 
and  that  not  from  sense  of  their  unfitness  and  unwonhiness,  op 
some  other  reason,  which  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  weight, 
but  from  a  careless  contempt  of  God's  ordinances,  or  God'a 
people,  a  man  says,  What  care  I  for  the  one  ?  and  what  are  the 
other  ?-^  And  from  a  resolution  never  lo  grow  better,  they  know 
they  are  not  like  to  be  accepted  of  them,  and  they  are  resolved  they 
will  grow  no  belter ;  they  think  themselves  as  good  aa  they,  and 
from  a  secret  unwillingness  to  come  to  the  light,  they  know  things 
are  amiss,  and  will  not  bo  known  of  it ;  they  appear  better  than 
they  are,  and  hence  they  are  loth  to  be  seen  and  judged  as  they 
are :  certaiuly  this  is  to  cast  Christ's  power ;  and  if  continued 
in,  the  salvation  of  your  souls  is  also  cast  off.  Acts  ii.  ult.,  "  The 
Lord  added  to  the  church  daily,  such  as  should  be  saved." 
V  To  the  church,  i.  e.,  not  the  universal  church,  but  visible  church, 
where  it  may  be  hod,  "  such  as  should  be  saved."     Is.  Iz.  14,  15, 


I 


4 


**  For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  irill  not  serve  thee  shall  per* 
i«h  ;  yen,  those  nalions  ehall  utterly  p^ri.sh."      Lamentable  is  llie 
condition  of  many  ;  not  so  naucii  for  not  joining  themBelvpa  to  the  i 
church,  as  not  seeking  of  the   Ixird  for  that  merey,  that  they  ' 
nay  be  Hrst  joined  to  the  Lord,  *nd  so  to  hb  people  for  the 
Lord's  ^ake. 

There  are  great  hops  of  people  amongst  the  churches  here 
Ihnt  do  stand  i^ilty  of  this,  —  the  Lord  humble  ns  for  it,  —  that 
content  themselves  to  stand  alieoslVom  the  comraonweahh  of  Israel, 
(Eph.  ii.  12,)  "etr&ngers  from  the  covenant  of  promise;  hav- 
ing no  hope,  and  witlioul  God  in  the  irorld."/  The  Lord  is  slow 
to  wrath  ;  bat  (here  is  a  threefold  bondage  :  1.  Of  sin  and  Satan. 
Kev.  siii.  It,  15,  "  Let  him  that  is  Slthy  be  ilthy  stilL"  Nay, 
though  there  be  some  beginnings,  yet  apt  to  fall  back,  because 
«ot  "  planted  in  ihe  courts  of  the  Lord,"  And  benoe,  (Col.  ii.  a,) 
"joying  aDd  beholding  your  order,  and  the  steadfastness  of  your 
faith  in  Christ : "  order  and  steadfastness  ore  joined  togeUier.  2. 
Of  misery.  Zecb.  liv.  17,  "And  it  shall  be  that  whosoerer 
will  not  come  up  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth  anto  Jerusalem, 
to  worship  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  even  upon  them  shall 
be  no  rain."  3.  Sadne^^ :  hence,  (Is.  Ivi,  7,)  "  Even  them  1  will 
bring  to  ray  holy  mountain,  and  mnke  then  joyful  in  my  house 
of  prayer."  To  be  joyful  in  the  house  of  prayer  is  promised  to 
such  as  join  themselves  to  God's  corenant. 

i.  They  have  a  power  given  them  of  binding  and  loosing;  by 
■drnonilionof  any  one,  that  being  received  in,  shall  sin  against 
their  coraraunran,  and  the  Lord  in  it;  Uiereby Jg.  deBJc  the 
whole  body,  and  to  provoke  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  against^lhe 
Game ;  and  this  is  mentioned  Matt,  xviii.,  and  by  the  apostle,  1 
Ciir-  V.  1,  4 :  and  this  is  given  to  them,  to  use  against  whatever 
siupier  or  oflender  it  be,  be  he  great  or  small,  prinee  or 
peer:  if  he  be  a  brother,  be  is  to  lie  down  here:  an  adnaonitioa 
is  an  arr«8t  and  message  from  God,  from  Christ  Jesus,  the  King 
of  kings.  Egkin  must  come  down  from  his  throne,  when  this  ia 
bronght. 

Now.  I  grant  again,  this  power  may  be  abused  miserably ;  as 
(o  admonish  without  coavi<;tion,  or  without  cumpasaion  and  love, 
but  in  heat  and  passion,  etc  Vet  this  is  part  of  Christ's  binding 
power  in  his  church  ;  which  when  it  is  done,  it  is  bound  in  heaven. 

Now,  wlien  men  come  to  that  pass,  timt  they  do  mt  only  lin, 
e  grown  (o  that  height,  that 


Uiey  c 


t  otT  all  reproofs  and  Chri.it-likc  adroon 


Steeped,  it  may  bcs  In  many  tears  and  prnyura 
L  sweetened  with  the  spirit  of  mcrt^and  tutor  o 


for  I 


i 


\ 


I 


I 


I 


Ihe  moulha  of  his  servnnls  ;  this  faring  under  bondage.  It  is  not 
gin  so  much,  for  this  nill  be ;.  hut  when  Ihey  can  not  abide  re- 
proofs, they  are  Iron  morsels,  can  not  be  digested  i  and  hence 
Eonietimes  hide  it,  and  twenty  shifts,  and  hall'  as  many  lies ;  or  if 
it  be  found  out,  defend  it,  and  fall  a-fencing  and  thrusting,  and 
Iry  it  out  to  the  last,  or  extenuate  it  twenty  nays,  that  a  beam  ii 
«  mote ;  and  which  is  norae,  Iheir  hearts  rise  and  swell,  and  they 
bear  a  priTy  grudge  against  them,  as  if  they  were  their  cnemieS) 
because  they  tell  them  the  truth  ;  when  they  should  soy,  "  Le* 
the  righteous  smile  me."  Ex.  ii.  14,  "Who  made  thee  a  prinev 
and  judge  over  ua  ?  "  When  Moses,  the  Israelites'  deliverer,  waa 
raised  up,  he  thereupon  departs,  and  they  lie  under  heavy  bond- 
age, when  they  cast  off  his  reproof.  It  is  true,  a  saint  may  not 
for  a  time  submit ;  but  yet  it  argues  a  height  of  spirit  for  the  pres- 
ent unlit  for  communion  with  God,  and  the  Lord  will  bring  them 
oB*,  and  humble  them  for  their  pride.  2  Sam.  sxiii.  6,  7,  "  Bat 
tbo  sons  of  Belial  shall  be  all  of  them  as  thorns  thrust  away,  be- 
cause they  can  not  be  taken  with  hands." 

A  child  of  God  may  have  many  wealtnesses,  a  hypocrite  many 
excellences ;  but  the  trial  of  them  is,  when  they  come  to  be  ar- 
rested with  a  sad  reproof,  how  they  yield  there,  and  that  as  unto 
God ;  especially  when  confession  shall  either  discredit  their  per- 
son, or  make  others  question  their  grace.  Snakes  will  not  hiss 
nor  sting  till  touched  ;  a  sheep  will  be  led  to  the  slaughter,  and 
turn  the  cheek  to  him  that  smites  :  so  should  one  poor  brother  do 
to  another,  when  he  comes  to  bim  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
not  many  that  will  so  do,  but  resist  and  oppose  against  all  reason. 

3.  They  have  a  power  of  communication  of  good  one  to  an- 
other, in  way  of  edification,  according  to  their  places  in  this  their 
communion  :  so  tliat  now,  it  is  not  only  left  in  the  hands  of  tha 
officers,  but  of  the  whole  church,  and  each  member  in  the  church, 
according  to  his  place  and  ability,  to  edify  the  whole.  Eph.  iv. 
16,  "  From  whom  the  whole  body,  fitly  joined  and  compacted  to- 
gether, by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  ef- 
)  fociual  working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  making  increase 
of  the  body,  unto  the  edifying  itself  in  love." 

Members  are  not  to  eland  like  beautiful  pictures  in  church  win- 
dows, and  as  costly  images  in  churches,  that  have  eyes,  and  see 
not,  ears,  and  bear  not ;  but  they  are  to  be  living  stones  in  God'i 
building ;  not  only  to  build  up  themselves,  but  one  another  also, 
that  so  a  man  may  not  only  get  no  hurt  from  communion  of 
churches,  but  he  may  get  goml  indeed  from  the  same.  And  if  I 
mistake  not,  here  is  the  wound  of  churches  ;  when  members  seek 
Dot,  and  endeavor  not  Ihe  good  one  of  another,  and  so  have 


I 
I 

I 

I 


TIME   OF   LIBERTY. 

oriliD&nces  nad  mcaaa  of  doing  ooe  anolher  good,  but  exerciae 
Ihcni  not ;  or  if  iliey  do,  recei^ti  nol  [lie  good  ilicy  might  hereby,' 
but  miLj  SKy,  nnd  sbiiU  say  at  lost,  B,i  be,  Prov.  v.  14,  "I  was 
almost  ID  all  evil  ta  the  niid^t  of  the  congregatbii ;  "  sin  pre- 
vailing, and  sorrows  by  little  and  little,  like  water  in  a  leaking 
ship,  sinking  the  poor  bark. 

Quetl.  What  are  tboae  mcaus  that  are  l«fl  to  the  eaiata  them- 
selves, even  privaK  member?,  to  exercise,  in  Christian  oommunion 
for  men  and  women ;  aJid  so  you  may  see,  when  these  are  neg- 
lected, or  not  improved,  ihe  power  of  Christ  In  bis  church  is 
cost  off  so  br  forth  ? 

Ant.  1.  The  first  ia,  a  spirit  of  dear  Christ-like  lore  one  to 
another,  every  one  to  all,  atid  all  to  that  again  ;  being  ready  to 
express  itself,  in  procuring  the  good  of  others  as  well  as  its  own : 
thb  doth  sweeten  communion  very  much,  and  edifies,  quickens, 
and  eaoourageth  a  Christian  in  his  whole  course  marvelously. 
£ph.  iv.  16,  "Making  increase  of  the  body,  unto  the  edifying 
itself  in  love."  Love  edifieth.  1  Cor.  viti.  1,  "  Knowledge  puffeth 
up,  but  charity  edifietb."  It  is  the  joy  of  the  saints,  and  that 
which  makes  the  aainls  to  blcsa  God  in  heaven ;  where,  take  any 
one  singly,  all  jointly  besides  honor  it,  tender  it,  and  seek  the 
good  of  it ;  and  that  one  hiessetb  Gud,  and  seeks  their  good 
more  Iban  its  own  again  ;  and  this  is  prophesied,  (Zeph.  iii.  0,) 
''  That  they  may  call  upon  tfae  name  c^  the  Lord,  to  serve  lum 
with  one  consent,  to  serve  the  Lord  with  one  shoulder;"  to  help 
one  another  spiritually  and  outwardly,  where  there  be  many 
griefs  and  burdens  which  depress  tbe  spirits,  and  make  it  unser- 
viceable, is  removed ;  ms,  what  is  there  that  doth  alienate  the 
hearts  of  men  more  from  God  and  hb  church  but  want  of  love  f 
Now,  when  men's  love  grows  oold,  that  a  godly  man  is  not 
esteemed  while  he  lives,  nor  his  death  lamented  so  much  as  the 
loss  of  a  swine ;  when  people  grow  strange  one  to  another,  and 
take  dibloslcs  and  [irejudices ;  when  ihey  am  sit  by  tbe  fire- 
side, and  censure,  and  whisper,  and  make  oSenses,  and  take 
offenses ;  and  minds  divide,  and  hearts  divide ;  that,  if  you  ask 
what  such  a  one  is  good  for,  tbe  answer  is,  lie  is  good  for  himself, 
nnd  good  to  breed  brawls,  and  divide  a  church ;  "  A  kingdom 
divided  against  itself  can  not  stand  ;  "  and  therefore  hereby  you 
cast  off  this  kingdom.  O,  Christians  should  pray  for  this,  and 
mount  for  want  of  this ;  and  study  peace,  and  follow  it.  It  should 
be  death  to  differ,  or  side,  or  make  a  parly,  one  against  another. 

2.  Earnest  prayer  for  tbe  church,  and  all  in  it  besides  thy- 
self;  and  that  with  striving  with  God,  till  on  answer  is  given; 
(Acta  V.   12,)    "  strotcbed-oBt  prayers,"  as  they  made  for  Pet«r. 


( 


I 


I 


nS  A   WTIM.KSOJIl:   CAVEAT 

James  v.  1&,  "  Confess  your  faults  one  lo  anottin-.  nn^  jiray-^me 
for  another,  that  you  mity  be  lieaicd."  AiiU  so,  (Jutlc  xx.,)  "  But, 
je  beloVL-d,  buililnigup3'ourselve$  iu  rouriao«t  Lolji  t'luib,  praying 
ia  tho  Holy  GUost."  TbU  it  a  meftns  lo  etlify  Mie  aDoiht.T, 
when  there  is  enlargedness  of  heart  to  pray  one  for  another. 
Ps.  cxxii.  8,  "■  For  my  brethren's  sake  I  will  wish  Ihj  peuce." 
Somelimea  a  Christian  can  da  oihera  htlle  good ;  yet  he 
will  wrestle  for  him  in  his  prayers  U>  God.  One  knows  not  the 
good  utMWS  hereby,  if  withal  a  man  kveps  a  good  conavience, 
making  ccuscieace  of  his  ways.  And  it  is  one  of  the  greatest 
privileges  thnt  a  tnua  hulh,  when  ont^e  he  hath  a  share  in  all  the 
prayers  of  the  eaiots  as  his  own;  and  it  answers  that  query. 
WhM  is  a  Christian  the  better  for  the  liberties  oi  the  church? 
Matt.  xi-iiL  19,  "  Again  I  say  unto  you,  Thot  il'  two  ot  you  shaU 
agree  on  earth,  as  touching  any  tiling  they  shall  ask,  it  sliall  be 
doDe  for  ihem  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Vt:r.  20, 
"  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  I  am  in  the  midst  of  them." 

Now,  when  people  are  false  herein  lo  their  brethren,  and  to 
their  covenant ;  to  llieir  God,  and  to  tlieir  own  souls ;  f I'or  their 
is  no  one  prayer  thou  mnkcst  that  shall  he  lost ;  but  if  it  alluia 
not  %  blessing  for  others,  it  shall  return  again  into  thy  bosom  ;> 
when  there  shall  be  no  heart  to  spend  prayer  or  shed  tears  for 
titem  whom  Christ  hath  shed  his  hlood  tor,  now  you  cast  olT  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. 

O  br«lhmi,  consider  of  it,  when  there  shall  be  many  a  soul 
in  a  church  taken  by  Satan's  temptations,  and  held  in  tempta- 
tions, and  ready  to  be  overcome  by  tempiaiions ;  and  it  may  be, 
would  not  be  so,  but  because  thou  dost  not  pray  ;  public  ordi- 
nances, the  ministry  ot  the  word,  little  good  doue  thereby, 
because  thou  liaat  no  heart  lo  pray.  Acts  iv.  31,  "And  when 
they  had  prayed,  the  place  was  shaken  where  tliey  were*  met 
together ;  and  tliey  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  Tbi« 
is  tho  reason:  the  hearts  of  thy  children,  servants,  and  fellow- 
brelhrcu  remniit  secure  and  unshaken  by  all  the  sermons  lliey 
hear ;  nothing  doth  them  good,  nothing  will  pierce  or  penetrate 
their  adamant-like  hearts,  because  thou  hast  no  heart  to  pray 
ibr  them,  or  at  least  not  to  purpose. 

3.  Timely  exhorUUioo  ;  when  brethren  are  dead  hearted,  and 
hevlless  in  their  Christian  course.  Ueb.iii.  12, 13, '^  lake  heed, 
brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief 
in  departing  from  the  living  Gtod;  hut  exhort  one  another  while 
i^  J3  called  to-duy,  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  through  iho 
deceitfulnese  of  sin."     Brotherly  exhortation  is  n  remedy  against 


I 


I 


I 


FOR  A  TIUE   OP   LtUERTV. 

apostasy  of  heart ;  far  though  a  mnn  can  not  eoi)Tinc«  aaother,  i 
yet  he  maj'  exhort  bim  :/and  it  U  to  be  done  in  season,  whilgj 
it  is  called  to-daj,  with  Hue  respeci,  and  taking  notice  of  what 
good  there  is,  with  mach  wisdom,  and  a  spirit  of  humility,  or 
else  ihou  fpoilest  all  thou  meddlesl  withal ;  putting  yourselves 
in  their  estate,  and  with  hearty  unfeigned  prayer,  that  the  Lord 
would  accompany  the  some  with  his  blessing.  Ileb.  x.  21, 
"  Consider  one  another,  U)  provoke  unio  love  and  good  works." 
I/Ook  over  the  congregation,  and  consider  such  a  brother's  or  sis- 
ter's estaie  ;  one  i^  poor  and  low,  another  falling,  another  very 
much  altered.  Now,  in  gome  eases,  a  private  brother  may  do 
more  than  a  minister  ;.  the  Lord  help  us,  and  stir  us  up  to  this 
work;  now,  when  ihb  ia  neglected,  many  souls  are  hardened. 

4.  Instructing  and  teaching  one  another,  as  occasion  serves. 
Bom.  IV.  14,  "And  I  myself  also  am  persuaded  of  you,  my 
brethren,  that  you  alao  are  full  of  goodness,  filled  with  all  knowl- 
edge, able  to  admonish  one  another."  They  were  able  for  to 
instruct  and  teach  one  another.  Is.  liv.  13,  "  They  shall  be  all 
taught  of  God."  What  Goil  leaclielh  thee,  that  do  thou  leach 
others ;  what  thou  gainest  by  hearing,  or  by  praying,  or  medi-  -. 
Itition ;  by  putting  questions  lo  others,  sometimes  to  teach,  and 
eometimes  to  be  taught;  and  this  do,  if  possible,  in  all  occa* 
sional  meetings  and  worMly  discoursea ;  mix  with  it  some  sweet 
trulh  that  God  hath  taught  thee.  But  now,  on  the  other  side, 
when  Christians  shall  meet,  and  a  man  is  the  worse  for  their 
fruitless  dUcourse,  no  savor  of  any  thing  of  God ;  let  them  meet 
never  so  long  or  of[en,  walking  or  sitting,  this  is  sad. 

5.  In  comtbrting  those  that  be  sad.  1  Thess.  v.  1 4,  and  ir.  ult., 
"  Comfort  the  feeble  minded,  and  sup|)ort  the  weak  ;  wherefore 
comfort  one  another  with  these  words."  There  arc  many  sad 
hearts  in  God's  church,  and  sad  things  are  as  wounds  to  n  man's 
limbs,  that  make  him  hall  or  fall.  0  brethren,  be  much  in  this 
work,  '2  Cor.  i.  4,  "  Who  comforteth  us  in  all  our  tribulation^ 
that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  them  which  are  in  any  trouble, 
by  the  comlbrt  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted  of  God ;  " 
that  a  soul  may  say.  Such  a  one  came  to  me,  and  spake  some 
few  words  lo  me ;  but  they  were  as  scasooable  as  thongh  the 
Lord  bad  sent  an  angel  from  heaven  lo  speak  to  me,  and  of 
more  worth  than  if  he  had  given  me  many  pounds.  But  now, 
when  this  also  is  neglected,  thai  one  Christian  hath  not  a  word 
of  encountgement  to  another,  but  dry  and  savorless  discourse  ; 
this  ihe  Lord  takes  very  ill  at  the  hands  of  bis  people,  that 
have  received  comfort  from  himself  in  ihe  day  of  their  sorrow 
Mid  distrew. 


I 


k. 


I 


I 


I 


'tftO  A    WHOLKSOUE   CAVEAT 

6.  Restoring  &  brolber  faWen  with  a  spirit  of  meeknesa. 
6al.  vi.  1,  2,  "Brethren,  if  any  be  overraken  with  n  fftolt,  ye 
irliicb  are  Bpiritual,  restore  audi  a  one  with  n  spirit  of  meekness." 
O,  how  will  a  poor  bouI  bless  ibe  Lord  for  such  a  brother's 
prayers,  Bdmonitions,  and  exhortations,  nben  the  Lord  shall 
have  brought  his  heart  back  again  to  bimselT,  altbough  before 
be  did  most  of  oil  disesteem  and  vilify  him  I 

Now.  when  these  are  not  used,  or  not  wiib  a  spirit  of  meek- 
ness improved,  that  a  man  never  blesselh  God  for  lliese  ;  ibe 
Lord  Jesus  is  pulled  down  from  his  tlirone,  when  not  done 
according  to  the  ability,  time,  and  place  that  the  Lord  afibrds. 
And  this  I  wiali,  the  churches  roourn  not  for  another  day  :  for 
my  own  part,  I  do  adjudge  myself,  before  God  and  men,  as  most 
guilty  of  this,  that  I  enjoy  many  sweet  ordinances,  and  we 
improve  them  not;  and  hence  the  glory  of  the  LoM  (ills  not 
his  tabernacle,  abides  not  on  hjs  diurches,  either  (o  draw  others 
to  them,  or  to  make  others  abumlantly  bless  God  for  them. 

Now,  hero  I  will  show  you  the  causes  of  this  :  — 

1.  Not  gaining  much  in  private  duties,  in  prayer,  meditation, 
reading,  and  daily  examination  of  a  man's  own  heart.  And 
hence  ibey  can  not  do  good,  because  iliey  receive  none,  or  very 
liltl^  themselves  :  they  have  not  a  treasure  within  ;  hence  they 
ctm  spend  little,  htov  no  heart  or  ability  to  exhort,  instruct, 
comfort :  he  Ihiit  keeps  not  his  shop,  his  ehop  will  never  keep 
him.  As  Ps.  xli.  6,  "  His  heart  gatheretb  iniquity  to  itself  *, 
irhen  he  goetb  abroad,  he  tellctb  it." 

2.  A  low  spirit,  which  makes  a  roan  to  have  low  thoughts 
and  endeavors  ;  1  mean  not  a  humble,  but  a  narrow  spirit,  not 
enlarged  to  hold  mucb,  or  to  do  much ;  hence  it  dolb  little. 
As,  take  a  plain  couniryronn :  he  neither  seeks  nor  reg;irds  the 
affairs  of  the  state  in  public,  because  bis  spirit  and  condition  are 
low  ;  but  princes  do  mind  and  attend  to  the  alfuirs  of  the  king- 
dom, to  advance  it,  because  their  condilimi  is  high,  and  they 
know  it.  MoBCB,  "he  suRered  reproach  with  the  people  of  G^;" 
loss  of  all  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  Pharaoh's  court ;  feared 
not  Pharaoh,  nor  loss  of  life,  for  ibeir  sakes;  for  "he  saw  that 
God  which  is  invisible : "  like  Saul,  when  once  a  kingdom  comes 
to  be  in  his  eye,  he  leaves  dH'  to  seek  the  asses. 

8.  Sloth.  There  are  thorns  (Prov.  sv.  19)  and  lions  (Prov. 
xxvi.  13)  in  a  sluggard's  way.  There  be  many  difficulties, 
businesses,  occasions,  and  objections,  wbenaa  if  once  be  were 
resolved  to  break  through  ihem,  then  the  work  would  go  on : 
Hke  a  man,  when  he  is  in  his  warm  bed,  he  is  loth  to  rise  ;  but 
irhen  he  is  up.  he  would  not  be  in  his  bed  again,  if  he  might  be 


POK  A  TIME   or   LIBCRTT. 

bired  again  U>  put  ofi'  his  clotlies :  I  aLall  get  no  gi 

nor  do  nooe,  aaith   anotlier ;    and  when  these    i 

past,  and  oc«asioiiH  over,  and  at  anullier  time.  I  will  seek.  God, 

and  go  itbout  God'a  work ;  and  thus  a  slothful  spirit  bimlere. 

4.  Want  of  faiili.  2  Cor.  iv.  13,  "  We  believe,  and  hence  wa 
«pcak."  Faith  empties  us  most,  and  hence  fllU  us  with  spirit  and 
life  of  Christ  Jesus  ;  hence  Stephen,  "full  of  liiiib  and  the  Hul;' 
Ghost."  A  lively  Cbristian,  when  be  comes  in  anoibi^r  Christiao's 
oompanj,  it  may  be  be  knows  not  what  to  speak  ;  but  he  looks 
up  to  Christ,  and  says.  Now,  Lord,  berc  is  an  opjxirtuniiy  in 
doing  or  receiving  some  good ;  and  therefore  now,  Lord,  help. 

5.  Wont  of  fear  of  God,  and  consolation  of  tlie  Spirit  of  God, 
from  the  sense  of  God's  love.  Acts  ix.  31,  "Tliey  walked  in 
the  tear  of  the  Lord  and  consolations  of  the  Uoly  Ghost  i"  the 
church  was  edilied  by  the  consolations  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  A 
man  that  is  wounded  keeps  within,  and  stiri  not ;  but  when  h« 
is  in  health  and  slrenglh,  now  hard  work  is  his  meal ;  he  can  not 
live  except  he  work.     (1  Cor.  xv.  ult.) 

G.  Not  eonsidcring  the  shortness  of  our  time  of  sowing. 
(Heb.  X.  25.)  Whereas,  if  men  were  on  their  dealli  bed,  they 
would  wish,  O  that  1  had  walked  more  blitraulessly  and  fruit' 
fully !     Men  care  not  for  a  comfortable  reckoning  a«  yet. 

Tbei'e  are  two  causes  why  they  receive  ng  good :  — 

1.  From  a  mean  esteem  of  the  saints  ;  looking  on  them 
as  men,  and  not  as  an  ordinanceof  Chrbt ;  their  persons,  prayers, 
kod  speeches.  And  tliis  is  a  rule :  men  never  gain  any  good 
by  that  ordinance  which  they  despise  :  if  all  were  scholars,  min- 
ialers,  or  saints  glorified,  they  eould  then  esluein  them.  Hence 
(Eph.  iv.  ir>)  edifying  is  by  love,  "making  increase  of  the 
body,  edifying  itself  in  love." 

2.  From  want  of  being  poor  in  spirit,  and  sensible  of  ihcir 
extreme  need  of  Christ,  continually,  in  all  me-tns.  Beggars  wilt 
pick  up  cruma,  and  watch  for  a  word  of  encoui'ngenieut.  It. 
xi.  1 6,  "  A  little  child  shall  lead  the  wolf  and  the  lion  ; "  that  is, 
when  the  Lord  hath  humbled  the  heart  of  a  man.  O,  when  a 
Christian  thinks.  None  so  poor,  and  shallow,  and  heartless  as  1, 
and  every  one  ia  better  thun  I,  however  I  need  mure  than  any. 
Ibis  »oul  will  be  glud  to  suck  the  breast ;  and  the  Lord  will  fill 
othera  with  light  and  life,  and  bia  own  boweU,  to  do  such  a  one 
good.  Whereas,  else  they  are  shut  up,  and  they  lind  no  good 
conveyed  In  them  by  any  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord,  nor  any 
presence  of  God  in  them. 

"Si  There  it  a  miubierial  power,  committed  from  Christ  b^tlip 
ehurob  to  the  ruling  officers  thereof.     1  say,  by  the  church,  fur 


k 


dH 


I 


all  power  in  the  church  is   properly  Christ's;  yet  he  nexlljrl 
communicBlea  il  ordinarily  (o his  churclj,  or  mulliluileorbelierera,   I 
to  whom  is  i^ommllltd  thu  euprcme  ]iower  of  [he  keys 
word,  and  a  binding  and  loosing,  ae  haih  been  showu ;  and  by   | 
this  church,  this  power  hath  been   by  Christ's  appointment,  and    1 
still  is,  to  be  (^ommunicHled  to  those  that  are  chosen  out  of  [hem-    I 
selves,  to  be  officers  and  rulers  over  them  in  the  Lord,  lo  exer-    , 
\  cisp  the  power  of  Christ  over  them  according  lo  his  will.    Hence    | 
llie  very  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  opening  and  shulling, 
'given  lo  the  church,  is  also  given  to  Peier  and  the   rest  of  the    | 
nposlleit,  and  (he  successors  of  Christ's  apostles  in  doelrine,  e 
of  ChrisU     John  xx.  23,  "  WboEesoever  eins  ye  remii,  they  are   | 
remitted,"  etc     Because,  though  the  power  of  communiwition    i 
of  it  is  in  the  church's  hand,  yet  the  power  of  usual  admittistrai-   ' 
tion  of  it  is  in  their  hand,  while  they  exercise  it  according  to 
Christ,  yet  by  the  church.     And  hence  Paul  puis  a  difference 
between  Ihis  extraordinary  ministry,  as  aposllesliip,  and  ordi- 
nary.    Gnl.  i.  1,  "An  aposlle,  not  of  men,  nor  by-tlie  will  of 
men,  but  by  Christ ;  "  for  the  church,  not  by  it :  now,  this,  I  say, 
is  by  the  cliurch  from  Christ,    Hence,  (Acta  xi.  28,)  "  The  Holy 
Ciliost  hath  made  them  overseers  ;  "  for  that  it  is  no  invention  of 
man,  or  act  of  man,  or  the  power  of  man,  but  of  Christ ;  and 
hence  refuse  to  be    under  this  power ;  men  cast  off  the  yoke 
gp'l  power  of  Christ  Jesus. 
I       For  though  the   estate  of  the  church  be  democra[ical  and  1 
popular,  and  hence  no  public  adniinist rations  or  ordinances  are   ^ 
to    be   administrated  publicly,  without  notice  and  consent  of 
the  church,  yet  the  government  of  it  under  Chrinl,  the  Media- 
tor and  Monarch  of  his  church,  it  is  arislocratieul,  and  by  some  j 
chief,  giAed  by  Christ,  chosen  by  the  people  to  rule  them  i 
the  name  of  Christ,  who  are  unable  and  unlit  to  be  all  rulera  I 
themselves  ;  and  lo  cast  off  these,  or  not  to  be  ruled  by  [liese, 
[  ia  to  cost  off  Christ./    Luke  x,   16,    "He  that  rejecleih  yoo 
Tffjfecteth    mc."      Num.  xvi.  3,    "You  are   gathered   together    ! 
against   the   Lord ; "    the  Lord  accounts  himself  opposed  and 
resisted  wlicn  the  officers  of  his  church  are  slighted,  and  their 
goveniment  despised. 
J"^Jue*(.     What  is  this  power  ? 

1  Ans.  1,  Negatively.  I.  Ii  is  not  any  lordly,  pompous  power, 
I  to  bear  the  bell  of  great  smoky  titles,  to  govern  in  worldly 
[pomp,  or  by  worldly  rewards  and  civil  punishments./  2  Cor. ) 
/  "  Ibe  weapons  of  our  wartare  are  not  carnal,  bu[  mighty,  through 
I  God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  sirongholds."  "  It  shall  not  be  so 
with  you,"  saith  Christ,  but  as  I  hiive  been  without  all  worldly 


333 

Btnte,  so  must  you  J>e  one  to  anotber.  Aod  hence,  (1  Pel.  t.  4^^  J 
"  Not  lining  lords  orer  God's  lierilage."  Christ  never  gave  lliB 
rainisEcra  puwer  of  opening  aoU  shutting  tlie  doors  of  Newgnlo, 
and  Bonner'i  cojvl  house,  it'  thej'  would  uol  subscribe,  or  to  cou- 
fuic  men's  opinions  with  their  own  luws,  and  bind  consciences 
with  chains  of  iron,  or  to  promote  bis  servants  by  spiritual  liv- 
ings. Christ  himself  refused  to  be  a  judge  in  civil  causes; 
henoe  some  of  our  divines,  when  they  would  grant  that  Peior 
was  Christ's  successor,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  Peter's  and 
Christ's  vicar,  yet,  as  Christ,  being  on  earth,  exercised  no  civil 
power,  so  much  less  may  these. 

2.  It  is  not  any  anti-Christi&n  iUimited  power,  viz^  to  have 
power  over  many  churches,  (for  that  is  the  main  spiritual  anti-  I 
Christian  external  power,)  and  the  ministers  thereof;  tor  wel 
read  in  Scripture  of  many  elders  and  bishops  in  the  same  churcii,  f 
(Acts  XK.  28,)  but  never  of  any  one  ordinary  minister,  or  officer  I 
ovi-r  many  churches,  either  to  govern  or  to  baptize,  as  the  Ana-  ' 
baptists  would  among  them,  as  many  godly  plead  for  noi 

misty  confusion  of  Kngland.     And  look,  as  we  cry  out  

minister  non-resident  that  shall  have  sis  or  ten  livings,  though  he 
give  never  so  good  a  stipend,  not  only  because  of  hia  pride  and 
uovetousness,  hut  because  of  bis  unconscionable  ness,  i  ' 
here  much  more  of  one  mun,  overseer  over  many  congrej 
it  may  he  a  hundred,  at  least. 

3.  1(  is  not  any  magisterial  power,  Diotrepbee-like,  either  T 
do  what  they  will,  (Uutt.  xxiii.  8,)  and  their  wills  to  be  (1^1 
kw.  f-»o.  Haiii  MTJii.  BO,  ■■  Tuuuh  uU  thai  1  liBumimi  d-yw».'7lr 
they  do  sin,  their  persons  are  under  the  censure  of  the  churcnj^ 
in  case  of  manifest  offense  and  scandal  by  the  mouths  of  two  or 
three  witnesses,  who,  being  members  of  the  whole  church,  and 
under  it,  and  being  sinful  members,  may,  if  the  case  need  it,  be 
proceeded  against  by  the  whole.  Neither  have  they  any  power 
to  Oct  any  public  ordinance  whieh  concums  the  whole  church,  and 
where  it  is  hound  by  Christ  to  judge,  without  the  privity  and 
consent  of  the  church,  as  to  elect  olficers,  admit  members,  cast 
out  ulTenderB  in  the  Testry  wliliout  the  knowledge  of  the  church/ 
one  of  the  blames  of  the  reformed  churches  which  the  apostle,  ^, 
with  their  extraordinary  power,  never  did  themselves ;  much  less  I 
should  these.  (1  Cor.  v.) 

4.  They  have  no  immediate  power  of  rule  immediately  given 
by  Christ,  over  any  one  particuhir  church,  but  mediate  by  that 
church  where  they  are:  their  gifis  of  teaching  and  ruling  ar« 
immt^liatdy  from  Christ,  but  their  actual  power  to  exercise  it 
over  this  or  thai  purlicuhir  congregation  is  by  that  church  only. 


I 


I 


I 


SM  A    WnOLESOJlF.   CATEAT 

Ileni^e  dencotu  that  were  only  to  tnke  care  for  tbc  outward  w- 
talc  of  the  church,  (Ai^u  ri.  3.  4,)  they  were  ordaiacd  by  lifiiDg. 
up  iheir  hAodfl.  Th!s  is  apostolical  power,  and  an  intru!iioD,  and 
cdU  asunder  the  force  of  the  argument  of  Master  Ball's  book 
of  [lower  for  Preitbylery,  etc. 

2.     What  ia  their  power  affirmatively  ? 

Am.  1.  They  liave  a  power  given  them  of  ruling  and  gov- 
erning from  Christ  by  the  people ;  hence  Ihey  are  called  rulers, 
and  such  as  rule,  and  are  over  God's  church  i  hence  they  have 

charge  and  command  from  the  Lord  to  do  iu     Hence  Paul 

"at  Ep  lies  us,  when  he  was  with  them  three  years,  yet  had  rulers 
here ;  and  ver.  2S,  "  Feed  God's  flock  bought  by  blood, 
which  (not  men,  but)  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers." 
Christ's  church  being  like  sheep,  apt  to  stray  and  perish,  unless 
these  watch  against  wolves,  and  these  the  apostle  at  his  li»t  part- 
ing left ;  hence,  also,  they  are  to  give  an  account  of  it  at  the  last 
I  day.  (Ueb.  xiii.)/  Henca  these  cast  off  the  Lord's  government' 
^  over  them,  who  will  have  no  rulers  or  governors  in  churches,  who 
shall  cither  speak  it  or  think  it,  but  leave  all  to  themselves  and 
their  liberty ;  to  teach,  baptize,  to  order  things  in  church,  and  so 
by  this  means  they  are  not  only  single  members  or  officers,  but 
pastor,  and  teacher,  and  elder,  and  all.  This  generation  of  men, 
sons  of  Korah,  arc  risen  up  in  these  latter  times;  especially 
amongst  Anabaplisls,  Familists,  and  rigid  Separatists,  and  who 
are  privily  crept  into  New  England  churches ;  whose  condemna- 
tion sleeps  not,  Satan  carrying  them  to  extremes,  and  pride  lin- 
ing them  up  above  themselves,  above  men,  above  officers,  above 
ordinances,  and  above  God.  That  look,  as  commonwealths  are 
under  greatest  bondage  where  there  is  an  anarchy,  where  every 
one  must  he  a  slave,  because  every  one  must  be  a  master,  so,  in 
the  churches,  no  greater  bondage  can  come  than  this,  the  founda- 
tion of  all  confusion,  atid  the  scandal  of  the  ways  of  God,  which, 
through  mercy,  his  people  here  enjoy.  _/ 

2.  This  power  is  more  than  any  one  private  member  halh  in  the 
church,  who  is  not  an  officer.  It  would  be  a  most  simple  ridicu- 
lous thing,  if  there  should  be  election,  ordination,  many  prayera, 
much  trial  of  men,  for  to  rule,  and  guide,  and  govern,  separation 
from  the  rest,  and  yet  not  to  have  any  more  power  than  one  pri- 
vate member.  Hence  the  apostle  says,  "  Submit  to  them  that 
■Sttroveryou,"  (1  Thesa.  v.  12.)  and,  (Heb.  liii.  17.)  "Obey  them 
that  guide  you,  or  rule  over  you."  Ilence  those  that  do  acknowl- 
edge governors  in  the  church  for  names'  sake ;  but  ihey  arc  such 
as  have  no  more  power  than  a  private  brother ;  they  do  but  al- 
low the  name,  but  deny  the  thing.     Hence,  say  they,  they  are  to 


I 


J 


IdJrl 
but  I 


roa  A  TiMiv  OF  LiBKiiTr.  33d 

WBteh ;  so  are  private  members :  the;  arc  to  admonish ;  so  is 
every  private  member :  thej  are  to  rule ;  the  word  signiliea  to 
guide  and  go  before  another. 

Ant.  1.  The  vord  to  ru&,  in  1  Theas.  v.  12,  is  the  same  word 
with  1  Tim.  iii.  4,  5.  lie  that  rules  his  own  house,  which  is  a 
little  more  than  thej  that  are  besides  him  in  the  family,  though 
this  be  not  sucii  a  paternal  power,  yet  it  is  somewhat  more  ilian 
tliat  of  private  members.  And  that  Heb.  xiii.  17  is  a  word 
which  is  the  same  with  that  in  Matt-  ii.  G — governor,  porlicularljr 
■poken  of  Christ's  gOTerument,  to  feed  otJicrwIae  than  private 
members. 

2.  It  is  Iroe,  they  arc  to  watch  and  admonish  in  way 
of  Christian  duty  ;  but  otiiers  in  way  of  Christ's  authority,  as 
being  bis  ambassadors,  and  sent  of  him,  as  in  a  family  one  ser- 
rant  should  watch  over  another;  but  the  chief  stewai^.  he  is  to 
du  it  with  authority  in  the  absence  of  his  Lord  ;  and  hence  doth 
it  with  more  majesty  and  jKiwer,  and  it  takes,  or  should  lake, 
deeper  impression ;  so  it  is  in  elders  of  a  church. 

Hence,  also/ when  men  shall  cry  for  liberty  to  speak,  an  elder  I 
forbids  it.  What,  may  not  llie  church  have  liberty  ?  True,  hut  f 
you  are  not  a  church.  An  elder  reproves,  and  they  will  reprove 
again.  What,  shall  not  the  church  have  liberty  ?  An  elder 
^ives  reasons  strong  and  unanswerable  for  sometliing  to  be  done : 
n  young  fellow  shall  step  up,  and  say,  without  ground  or  show  of 
il,  Tliat  is  your  light,  and  mine  is  otherwise.  What,  may  not  the 
church  have  liberty  ?  Yes,  but  you  are  not  the  church.  This  is 
very  sad,  and  hath  been  a  root  of  greatest  scandal  that  ever 
God's  ways  had.  If  elders  sin  openly,  it  is  another  case,  and 
somewhat,  also,  is  there  to  be  done  :  "  Submit  yourselves  one  tot 
another,"  much  more  lo  an  elder,  etc.  — ;;-* 

3.  In  the  execution  of  their  oDiiK  according  to  Christ,  they  1 
are  over  the  whole  church.     Their  persons  indeed  are  under 
them;  incase  they  sin,  and  sin  in  the  execution  of  their  office,  they 
are  to  bo  subject,  not  only  to  the  whole,  hut  to  the  last  member  I 
of  the  church./  Suppose  the  sin  be  not  only  suspected,  ar  report- -| 
ed,  or  apprehended  by  one,  but  two  or  three  witnesses,  at  least, 
as  1  Tim.  v.  19 ;  but  while  they  execute  it  according  to  Christ, 
tlicy  are  therein  above  tlie  church,  and  it  is  bound  to  be  subject 
ilierein ;  and  not  to  be  subject  is  to  refuse  to  be  under  Christ's    ] 
government.     Hence,  (llcb.  xiii.,)  "Obey  them  that  rule  you;" 
he  speaks  to  the  whole  church,  which  was  not  in  evil,  but  in 
good  things,  according  (o  God  ;  and  yet  in  evil  things,  look  on 
them  as  those  over  them.    Mxtmpli  gratia,  a  minister  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  office,  let  him  preach  Christ's  eternal  truth,  deliver 


I 


I 

I 

I 


SSfi  A   WnoI.ESOME   CAVKAT 

it,  and  prove  it.  Whatever  human  weaknesses  there  be  in  hini, 
whatever  darkaess  there  is  in  otiters,  yet  be  is  therein  above 
churches,  king^  or  ang«U ;  and  thej  shall  Answer  it  at  the  great 
day,  that  do  not  aubmil.  "  Id  regard  of  my  person,"  said  Luther, 
"  I  wilt  fall  down  before  any  ;  but, in  regard  of  ibe  trutb  I  admio- 
islcr,  I  look  on  tke  kin^  of  the  earth  aa  nits,  nay,  duet,"  tUi.  Ad 
Jiei/em  Anffl. 

So  in  (he  power  of  the  keys  in  opening  and  shutting  out  mem- 
bere ;  they  have  tried  and  proved  such  a  one :  if  they  bid,  oa 
they  may,  then  give  them  reasons  ;  but  if  not,  ihey  are  bound  lo 
submiL     And  that  not  as  unio  other  Christians,  but  as  unto  an 
ordinance,  atamped  withau  authority  of  God  upon  them  :  indeed, 
they  are  not  to  do  any  such  thing  without  the  presence,  consent, 
and  judiciary  power  of  the  church ;   and  the  church  may  not 
submit  to  what  elders  propose  to  be  Christ's  mind ;  but  thea 
they  cost  off  the  Lord's  [wwcr,  which  they  ore  to  answer  for 
wiother  day.     1  Cor.  lii.  28,  they  are  called  governors.     Now, 
as  a  ruler  of  a.  ship  is  to  order  it,  though  a  king  be  in  it,  over 
him  in  that  respect,  and  the  king  is  to  be  guided  by  him  while  ha 
guides   it  right ;  but  If  no),  the   king  hath   power  over   him   to 
command  others  to  take  the  place  or  cast  him  overboard. 
T""Il  is  true,  they  are  hut  servants  to  the  church,  because  ihey 
lure  by  the  church,  tor  the  church,  and  to  help  the  church,  (2  Coi^ 
i.  24,)  und  are  subject  to  them  if  they  sin  ;  but  yet  they  are  sep*- 
i  vaiils  unto  Christ,  and  in  exercising  his  power  according  to  hin^ 
I  nbove  the  church.     2  Cor.  iv.  5,  "  We  preach  Christ,  and  out*  ] 
^wlves  your  servants  for  Christ ; "  yet  therein  above  thera.  Hence,  1 
being  their  servants,  if  ihey  sin,  they  arc  under  the  censure  of  I 
the  church,  and  the  church  may  cast  them  by.     So,  being  Christ's  J 
servants,  if  not  submitted  lo,  the  Lord  doth   account  bimseir  ^ 
(^l  off. 

\      k-BcewMgc'their  power,  thus  rightly  executed,  is  the  power  of    ' 
Christ  Jesus.     Hence,  refuxe  it,  you  refuse  to  be  subject  to  him.  J 
If  men  will  not  be  ruled  by  God's  ordinances,  but  will  rule  ordi- 
nances,  ihey  go  about  to  rule  Christ. 

tr-  Bacauiioi  if  there  shall  be  no  subjection  here,  it  is  professed 
licentiousness,  and  not  liberty  in  churches.  Tou  have  liberty, 
but  what  liberty  ?  lo  be  subject  to  Christ's  power  in  pure  lil)erly, 
and  that  in  his  servants.  Xow,  when  men  will  not.  and  shall  re- 
fuse without  showing  reason,  or  convicting  ciders  of  sin.  this  is 
to  cast  off  the  government  of  Christ. 
».  Elders  ate  helpers  of  people,  and  there  is  no  people  but 
.  will  stand  in  need  of  such  helps,  if  humble,  and  able  to  discern, 
J[  to  attend  tlie  public  good,  lo  tench,  and  convince,  etc.     Hence, 


1 


I 


337 


nlien  there  is  no  ^n  appearing  in  ihe  cxeculion  of  (heir  office, 
they  should  with  a  holy  fear  submit,  and  i»y,  If  ye  be  faithful      A 
watchmen,  what  am  I  that  I  should  be  uiisatislietl  ?    lilj-  ignorance     J 


ll 


may  mislead  others,  etc.  .     ^ 

iy^They  have  power  to  oversee,  when  they  sec  cause,  (ActsT 
XX.  28,)  and  to  sec  into  and  iniiuire  into  the  estate  of  the  fiockl 
of  God ;  to  know  their  spiritual  condition,  so  far  as  is  lit  to  be  A 
known,  that  so  they  may  be  comforted  in  the  work  of  Christ,  | 
tiiough  there  be  no  sin  break  out,  nor  they  come  to  them.  ( 1  Thess.  | 
iii.  5,  ti.)  The  apaitle  inquired  into  their  faith,  charity,  alliP 
prayer,  (ver.  7,)  and  hence  was  comforted,  etc  And  this  Paul 
dolh  not  as  an  extraordinary  man,  but  leaves  his  example  as  a  pre- 
cedent to  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  to  go  from  house  to  house,  and 
inquire,  to  teach  and  exhort,  (Acts  sx.,)  for  elders  are  to  prevent 
scandals  as  well  as  to  remove  them,  lest  when  they  come  they  say, 
O  that  1  had  known  this  before,  especially  where  they  see  need. 
Now,  hence  it  is  that  men  cast  off  the  government  of  Christ, 
when  they  will  not  have  their  spiritual  condition  searched  into ; 
the  elder's  foot  is  now  too  great  for  his  shoe ;  I  am  to  give  an  ac- 
count to  God  1  so  ure  they,  also,  of  thee ;  now  thou  canst  not 
give  it  if  thou  inquirest  not  how  thy  condition  stands,  neither  caa. 
thoy  with  comfort  unless  thou  lellest  them  how  it  stands  with 
thee.  It  is  true  there  ar«  many  secret  things  they  can  nc 
find  out ;  yet  they  are  to  attend  their  duty. 

The  minister's  charge  is  to  cast  the  seed,  the  elder's  duty  if 
inquire  after  the  fruit  in  the  husbandry  of  Christ :  it  is  a  i 
condition  when  a  man  hath  such  a  wound  that  he  will  not  go  to 
the  Lord  for  help,  because  he  loves  it,  and  will  not  have 
to  know  it,  because  he  is  ashamed  of  it.     Itul  yuu  shall  km 
at  tlie  lost  day,  that  the  Lord  would  have  healed  you,  and  you 
would  not,  but  can  quarrel  and  snap  at  the  elders  when  thejr 
come  to  inquire  of  your  condition  ;  and  why  do  ye  inquire  ?  you 
lake  loo  much  on  you.  ^^ 

5h  They  have  power  to  guide,  and  counsel,  and  warn  the 
church,  at  least  in  all  weighty  afl'nirs  which  may  concern  them 
■nd  their  common  good ;  hence  they  are  colled  guides  and  leaden 
to  the  people.  (Heb.  xiii.  17.  Mai.  ii.  7.)  I  do  not  mean  in  aU^ 
personal  things.     Acts  xx.  'til,  "1  warned  you  of  wolves,"  etc. 

1 .  For  members  in  matters  of  great  and  weighty  affairs  which 
concern  the  good  of  the  whole  cliurch,  nay,  all  churches,  never 
to  inquire  at  Abel  is  coaling  off  Ihe  Lord,  m  in  election  of  offi- 
cers in  church,  and  magistrates  in  the  commonwealth,  etc. 

2.  (Icnce lu  receive  any  opinion  different  from  all  the  elder*! 

VOL.    111.  W 


ou     I 

allj 


I 
I 


p 

I 


388  A  witoLi;soME  caveat 

ill  the  church,  anJ  never  bo  much  hs  speak,  much  lesa  come  to  « 
safi  debate  about  il,  is  to  cast  off  thia  yoke,  and  contrary  to  cove-  1 
^nant  ;/an<l  elders  would  never  have  undertaken  the  care  of  ihs  I 
cEurch  without  it;  and  it  sods  (heir  hearts  that  they  do  their  i 
nork  feehly.  1 

3.  Hence  to  propose  a  doubtful  question  to  the  church,  which  I 
may  trouble,  or  bring  an   offender's   sir  to   the  church  without  .\ 
counsel  of  the  elders,  who  may  encourage  them  if  of  God,  i 
ripen  it  for  the  church,  or  discourage  it  if  not  of  God.     Christ,  J 
when  he  writes  to  the  churclie?,  he  superscribes  his  epistles  to  I 
the  angels  :  and  if  one  man  may  propose  a  doubtful  opinion,  ai 
other  may,  and  a  third,  and  one  may  side  with  another,  and  i 
much  confusion  will  follow. 

4.  Hence,  when  men  aholl  not  take  warning  of  eviL-i  to  con 
upon  evident  grounds,  il  is  costing  off  the  Lord's  yoke ;  and  whea  I 
they  come  on  thee,  ihou  mayest  say,  It  is  hecause  I  have  refused  I 
to  hearken  to  my  watchers  :  they  warned  me  of  this ;  and  it  tatty  1 
be  you  will  find  else  such  evils  which  the  Scripture  notes,  "  ao-  ] 
cording  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  his  servant"  Elisha,  so  will  4 
the  Lord  make  good  the  words  and  ihreatenings  of  his  faithful  I 


I 


t^X  They  have  power  of  public  reproof  of  any  member  of  the 
'  church,  in  case  of  plain,  open,  and  public  offenses  i  others  with- 
out leave  can  not,  nor  ought  not,  although  others  may  tell  then). 
Reproofs  are  part  of  the  power  peculiar  to  the  governors  in  any 
society,  whijre  governors  are  present  especially,  and  at  hand  ;  as 
now,  in  a  family,  no  wise  man  will  suffer  brawls  amongst  his  cbil- 
ldrenorBervants|butBayahe,Tellme.  (ITim.  v.  20.)  Now,  this  is 
•mi  when  a  man  can  not  forbear  reproof  of  others,  nor  hear  re- 
proofs of  elders,  but  turns  again,  and  will  he  judge  in  hia  own 
cause,  though  never  so  groes  ;  a  sign  of  an  Extreme  froward  high 
spirit,  (Hos.  iv.  4,)  which  makes  the  Lord  to  take  away  elders 
as  soon  as  any  sin  is  committed,  and  stop  their  mouths.  £x.  ii., 
"  Who  made  Ihee  a  judge,"  etc.  And  when  alllictions  come,  and 
^ou  then  inquire,  What  is  the  cause  of  it?  you  may  bo  sure  thU 
IS  one,  even  by  the  confession  of  the  blindest  deboist  ones.  Prov. 
V.  12,  "  Uow  have  I  hat«d  instruction,  and  not  obeyed  the  voice 
of  my  teachers  !  " 

G.  They  are  to  feed  with  power,  as  the  word  noifiairrtr  gignifieth, 
every  one  in  their  places,  publicly  instructing,  exhorting,  comfort- 
ing, and  privately  also ;  which  though  private  men  may  do, 
yet  here  is  the  stamp  of  authority  also,  and  so  the  more  power 
..  the  more  blessing  ufiually,  if  God  be  acknowledged  therein, 
(AcU  XX.  28.)     Hence,  — 


I 


FOB   A   TIME   OF   LIBERTT.  339 

1.  When  men  despise  tlielr  food,  they  nre  poor  things  ;  thej 
■peak,  and  ihey  can  sec  no  matter  in  thuni ;  and  that  after  Eludf, 
prayers  and  teitra,  ctu.,  and  m  cast  il  hy :  lliis  i»  to  CASt  ofT  the  Lord. 

2.  When  men  grow  glutted  and  full,  (Mnl.  i.  ult.,)  although 
Ihey  eat  not  a  bit,  and  hence  thrive  not,  but  a  spirit  of  slum- 
ber and  a  deep  sleep  grows  on  them,  that  ihey  can  not  be  awii- 
kened  by  all  the  ordinances  of  God.  These  things  mil  for  chains. 
Amos  viii,  12,  "When  will  these  Sabbathd  be'  ended?"  for 
which  the  Lord  threatens  a  famine,  and  then  you  shall  know  the 
worth  of  them  in  the  want  of  them. 

These  things  I  speak,  1.  Because  1  sec  the  apostle,  in  many 
of  his  Epistles,  lays  this  charge  on  the  people,  (Heb.  xtii.  7, 17  ;) 
it  ia  twice  repeated,  1.  Lest  officers  be  sadded  in  Iheir  work 
thai  is  heavy-  2.  Lest  it  be  unprofitable  for  you  ;  you  think  to 
get  thb  and  that  good  by  it,  but  it  will  be  nothing  in  the  con- 
clusion. 

2.  Because  we  lie  under  slander  of  many,  and  that  godly,  as 
if  elders  in  churches  were  but  only  ciphers. 

3.  Becauae  people  begin  to  run  to  extremes,  elders  taking  all 
to  themselves,  and  people  taking  all  for  Ifacmselves. 

i.  Because,  if  here  he  not  attendance,  you  quickly  see  the  mis- 
erable ruin  and  fall  of  churches,  more  sad  than  the  burning  of 
Solomon's  temple.  It  is  observed  of  Jeroboam,  when  he  was 
sacriflcing  he  had  no  leprosy,  but  when  he  stretched  out  his  hand 
against  the  prophet  it  was  withered  ;  for  the  Lord  will  not  bear 
here  ;  tliey  may  be  despised,  and  yon  may  think  "  yourselves  kings 
without  them,"  (1  Cor.  iv.  8,)  and  they  will  say  so,  tJicy  may  rule 
as  they  will,  but  you  will  do  as  you  list.  But  the  Lord  will  be 
provoked  for  this  ;  all  Saian'a  subtlety  lies  here :  Disgrace  the  eld- 
ers, says  one :  Divide  them,  says  another :  Pull  them  down,  says 
the  third,  that  there  may  be  no  king  in  Israel,  no,  nor  in  Sion, 
that  we  may  do  what  is  right  in  our  own  eyes. 

3,  Try  when  the  external  kingdom  of  Christ  in  a  common- 
wealth is  cast  off;  for  when  any  commonwealth  is  ordered  ac- 
cording to  (he  sacred  will  of  Christ,  by  such  persons  especially 
whom;  aim  is  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  Christ  by  their  rule  and 
power,  il  is  then  become  ihe  kingdom  of  Christ  Jesus.  And 
henc«,  (Kev.  xi.  15,)  when  the  seventh  trumpet  is  blown, and  tho 
Lord's  last  woe  is  come  upon  the  world  and  the  kingdoms  there- 
of which  have  opposed  Christ,  and  those  kingdoms  are  turned 
to  embrace  the  gospel,  anil  submit  to  the  power  of  Christ  in  (he 
same,  then  it  is  said,  "  The  kingdoms  of  the  world  are  become 
the  kingdoms  of  Christ;"  it  is  nut  said,  Christ's  kingdom  is 
become  the  kingdom  of  tiie  word,  aa  if  Christ  should  put  down 


L 


I 


I 


civil  authority,  and  exercise  rule  hy  it  liiraseir ;  bul  the  kingdom^ 
of  the  world,  i,  e.,  ihe  varioos  kingilams  are  become  Christ's,  i.  e^ 
to  advance  il,  and  debase  iheinaelves  at  bis  feet.  Eph.  i.  21,  it  ia 
said,  "  All  tilings  are  put  under  Christ's  feel,  and  he  is  bead  over 
all  things  to  the  churcb,"  (that  ia.  universally, chiefly,  nexilj.pm^ 
licularly ;]  so  then  earth's  kiugdoms,  wbeu  they  are  subject  to 
Christ,  for  bis  ends,  now  they  exercise  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  in 
a  manner ;  and  faenue  lo  cost  olf  ibis  is  to  cast  off  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  so  to  provoke  the  Lord  to  put  us  undi^r  bondage. 
Qufit.  When  is  Christ's  power  and  kingdom  cast  off  here  ? 
r^»»*  There  ia  a  double  power  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
which,  I  suppose,  when  they  become  Chrbt's  kingdoms,  they  will 

First.  There  is  some  supreme  or  higher  power  in  the  chief 
magistrates,  princes,  or  chief  court  of  justice. 

Secondly.  There  is  some  inferior  power,  by  some  superior 
power,  set  over  partlcuhir  persons,  cities,  and  towns,  for  the  well 
ordering  of  them.  The  ground  of  this  is,  that  natural  necessitj 
whicU  Jethro  propounded  from  God  to  Moses,  {Ex.  xviii,  17, 
18,)  J"  It  is  not  good  for  thee  to  be  alone,  but  thou  wilt  boili 
wear  out  thyself  and  thy  people."  Public  authority  mast  have 
many  eyes  and  many  hands ;  and  like  a  river  tbot  is  to  water  a 
country,  it  must  huve  many  streams  :  and  hence  they  hud  in  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel,  which  was  for  God.  in  every  city  judges, 
and  in  towns  such  as  were  over  fifties  and  tens,  (Ex.  xviii.  25,) 
which,  it  seems,  coaUnued  long,  till  all  fit  men  for  government 
were  taken  away ;  and  then  (Is.  iii.  3)  their  condition  is  lamenl«d. 

Now,  the  form  of  this  government  is  not  in  all  commonweallha 
alike,  the  Lord  not  binding  to  any;  and  hence  called  ar^^ni*-^ 
xtloii,  an  ordinance  of  men.  Hence  it  ia  a  foolisb  vanity  to  ask  a 
warrant  in  Scripture  for  such  a  form  of  government ;  for  human 
wisdom  may  leach  this,  though  not  in  church  government  Yet 
this  supreme  and  inferior  government  hath  been  in  all  kingdoms, 
i(l  Pet  ii.  13,  14,)  to  both  which  subjection  is  required;  to  refuse 
l^give  it  is  to  cast  oft'  the  Lord's  govemment;/und  there  aro 
coiifhed  four  reasons  in  that  place  to  prove  this. ' 

1 .  Do  it  for  the  Lord's  sake,  for  the  name  of  Christ ;  and  that 
honor  and  majesty  of  Chiisl  stamped  on  them,  submit ;  hence 
cast  them  off,  you  cast  by  respect  unto ;  nay,  the  name  of  Christ 

2.  Because  they  are  in  the  room  of  the  Lord,  to  do  Ihe  work 
of  the  Lord  ;  "  in  punishing  evil  doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them 
that  do  well."  It  is  true,  they  may  abuse  iheir  power  otherwise ; 
but  yet  their  power  is  one  tiling,  and  their  abuse  of  il  another. 


I 


I 


FOR  A   TIME    OF    LlBEUTr. 


341 


3.  Because  "  this  is  the  will  of  Chrisl,  anil  jou  do  well  in  it; 
■nd  so  jaa  »hall  slop  the  mouths  uf  foolish  men,  apt  to  speak 
against  you  for  sin." 

4.  BecKUiM!  this  is  the  lil>erty  of  Christ,  (yer.  G,)  and  jod  are 
eervonls.  to  Christ  in  it ;  and  to  do  otherwise  is  licentiousness ; 
and  their  liberty  to  exempt  themselves  from  the  power  of  law- 
ful aathority  was  but  a  cloak  of  it.  For  so  it  Beems,  in  those 
days,  some  held  it  part  of  their  Christian  liberty  to  be  free  from 
all  bonds,  and  said  that  Christ  had  mad6  them  kings  on  earth, 
etc.  So  that  if  they  did  ca-it  off  subjection,  they  did  cast  off  tke 
name  of  Christ,  power  of  Christ,  will  of  Christ,  libeHy  of  Chrirt 
Jesus,  even  under  heathen  magistrates  ;  what  then  do  they  that 
cust  it  off  under  others? 

Quf$l.  When  is  Christ's  government  ca£l  off  in  respect  of  the 
supreme  power  ? 

Aiu.  Those  that  know  the  questions  about  llie  power  of 
princes  and  people,  especially  revived  in  these  last  days,  can  not 
but  know  the  field  is  large,  where  now  I  am.  I  shall  be  wholly 
silent,  unless  I  saw  greater  cause  of  speaking  than  I  do,  and 
only  point  out  two  or  three  particulars  to  prevent  such  sins  as 
stand  next  to  the  door,  (o  break  in  upon  this  power. 

].  When  men  cast  off  secretly  dread,  and  fear,  and  reverence 
of  the  majesty,  dominion,  and  sovereignty  that  God  stamps  upon 
authority,  and  so  come  to  have  low,  mean  thoughts  of  them,  and 
contempt  of  tliejn.  It  is  true,  none  should  be  elected  hut  such  as 
men  can  honor  for  some  eminency  or  other,  and  that  of  God, 
seen  in  them.  "  Able  men,  fearing  God,  chief  amongst  the  peo- 
ple," was  the  counsel  of  God  by  Jethro  and  Moses ;  but  when 
they  be  elected,  now  to  despise  them,  and  hence  not  to  bow  tho 
knee,  or  stir  the  hat,  and  speak  rudely  before  them,  it  ii  casting 
off,  not  only  their  power  in  sight  of  God,  but  the  very  root  of  it, 
which  is  honor  ;  and  hence,  in  the  fillh  commandment,  all  duties 
to  them  are  comprehended  under  the  word  Aonor.  And  who  , 
sees  not  but  this  is  a  sin,  which  is  apt  to  attend  the  spirits  of  men 
in  a  pinee  of  liberty,  and  in  our  weak  beginning,  and  day  of 
small  things  ?  Keporta  are  abroad  that  no  men  of  worth  are 
respected,  and  hence  tlic  country  is  neglected.  I  can  not  say  so 
after  many  thoughts,  for  I  am  persuaded  no  place  in  Europe 
more  ready  to  honor  men  of  public  spirits,  and  of  eminency  in 
piety  and  humility,  without  the  seeing  of  which  no  country  more 
apt  to  vilify,  because  grace  is  the  glory  in  the  eye  of  a  country 
led  by  religion.  Bui  take  heed  lest  such  a  spirit  befall  us  ;  lest 
(he  Lord  put  out  our  lamps,  "  and  cost  our  crown  down  to  the 
ground." 


I 


I 


Sti!  A    WHOLESOME    CATEAT 

2,  When  men  Seek  to  pluck  the  eworf  of  r«venge,  for  wn  Imrt-^ 
ing  the  coninionwctilth,  oiil  of  their  hands;  wiiliout  which  the 
grtiulest  ])Owi^r  in  a  I'utninonwentili  is  liut  B  pageant  and  e 
vanity,  almost  a  nullilj.     Hence,  (Rom.  xiii.  4.)  "  He  is  God's 
iiiiniiil«r ; "  yc-s,  when  lie  gives  good  counsel,  And  "  when  be  is  i 
revenger,  to  execute  wrath  on  him  that  doetli  evil."     So  that,  be 
the  evil  what  it  will  be,  if  illiurtlhecommonneAlth,  orbe  a^inst 
any  wholesome  law  thereof,  he  is  God's  minister  to  punish  it    j 
civilly.     In  the  first  rvfiMiiiation  of  Geneva,  Iherc  were  as  manj 
heresies  and  errors  almost  us  truths  of  God ;  Servelus,  he  de- 
nied llie  deity  of  Christ;  whereupon  the  magistrate  put  him  to 
deAlh,  who  died  with  extreme   horror.      Whereupon    heresies 
being  begun  h>  be  snibbed  and  blasted,  Bellius  writes  a  book  :  1. 
Thai  men  should  punish  no  heresy  at  all,  but  be  merciful  and    i 
meek,  as  Christ  was  lo  the  adulterous  woman.     '2.  If  Ihey  did,    I 
yet  that  magistrates  llicy  should  not  punish  for  errors  or  heresies. 
8.  If  ihey  did,  yet  not  with  such  severity  as  they  began.     To  all   ] 
which  Bern  huth  given  a  most  lenrned  and  solid  answer,  detest- 
ing the  hypocrisy  of  the  man,  and  the  sad  consequences  of  such   , 
opinions,  if  their  power  should  be  diminished.  I 

F"^I  conceive  it  is  casting  off  Christ's  power  to  take  away  power    , 
Ifrom  magistrates  to  punish  sins  against  the  first  table,  of  which 
lerron  and  heresies  in  religion  are  part     It  is  as  clear  as  the  sun, 
^at  ihe  kini^  of  Juduh  that  were  godly  did  it,  and  were  com- 
mended for  it ;  and  it  is  as  clear  they  were  commended  for  it, 
not  as  types  of  Christ,  but  because  they  did  therein  that  which 
was  right  in  God's  eyes,  and  according  lo  ihe  conimandroeot  of 
the  Lord,  which  judicial  commandments,  concerning  ihe  punish-  i 
ing  of  Sabbath   breakers,  false   prophets,  heretics,  elc-,  God'k 
fence  to  preserve  moral  laws,  they  are  of  moral  equity,  and  ta  I 
l9  be  observed  to  this  day  of  Christian  magistrates,  eic.     To  ex- 
r'eniiil  clergymen  in  mailers  of  religion  from  the  power  of  the 
'  civil  swonl  is  Hat  Popery ;  by  means  of  which  Antichrist  hath   | 
risen,  and  Imlh  conlinued  in  his  pomp  and  power  so  long  logelhttr. 
.The  indulgence  of  princes  towards  the  Papal  function  in  mattere 
\of  religion  hnlh  undone  Christendom. 

\    II  is  iruo,  every  error  is  not  "to  be  immediately  committed ;  but 
when  it  is  like  a  gangrene,  of  a  spreading  nature,  then  the  magis- 
tpate  in  due  time  must  cut  it  off  speedily. 
Otjtcl.     Leave  them  to  the  church. 

Jin».  Time,  leave  ihera,  1,  there.  But,  %  sometimes  ihe 
church  will  not,  sometimes  they  are  not  of  any  church.  A  Papist, 
an  Arminian,  may  come  in  and  leaven  and  damn  many  a  soul,  for 
which  they  had  beller  never  been.     If  ii  were  but  one,  and  if 


FOR  A   TIME   OP    LIBERTT.  343 

he  nAji,  I  do  it  with  a  meek  B|iiril,  (llieir  lri(;k,  of  late,)  and  none 
must  meildle,  because  mercy  must  be  Hiiown  lo  these  wolves.  A 
wise  slieplierd  bad  r&ilier  let  a  Inintt^r  Qouie  in  und  kill  one  of 
bis  sheep  than  let  a  wolf  or  fox  escape,  (Acts  xx.  29,)  aud  see 
bis  |>eople  persecuted  than  their  souls  worried. 

llereay  and  error  bath  ibis  property;  it  ever  diea  by  severe 
opposition,  and  truth  ever  riseih  the  more ;  because  Christ  is 
against  tlie  one,  hence  it  must  fall ;  Lul  for  the  other,  hence  it 
ahull  rise  bj'  its  fall.  Hence,  set  yourselves  ugHinet  ibis,  it  is 
(u  appose  the  power  of  Christ  Jesus.  And  lienuc  in  Henry 
VIII.'s  time,  the  abbeys  fell,  and  never  could  rise  to  this  day; 
but  the  six  articles  against  the  suinls  pursued  wilh  blood  made 
them  increase  the  more. 

3,  When  men  will  not  submit  to  the  wholesome  laws  of  magis- 
trates, which  are  either  fundamentul  and  continuing,  or  orders 
that  have  their  date  and  time  of  expiring,  made  fur  common  good. 
When  men  will  either  have  no  bws,  or  as  good  as  none,  or  sub- 
mit U>  none  but  wbitt  they  please,  (Deut.  xvii.  1 1,)  "  He  that  will 
not  hearken,  but  do  presumptuously,  shall  die;"  he  being  ({ 
minister  of  the  Lord;  and  indeed,  it  is  lo  out  otT  the  Lord.' 
go  not  about  here  to  establish  a  sovereign  power  in  magistrates, 
which  is  proper  to  God,  to  make  what  laws  they  will  about  civil, 
religious,  or  indifferent  things,  and  ihen  people  to  submit  to  tbem 
for  no  other  reason  hui  because  of  their  will ;  under  which  no- 
lion  superstition  in  churches  hath  been  ushered  and  maintained, 
you  must  obey  authority ;  in  that  cose  it  is  better  to  suflTur  tban 
to  sin,  and  not  to  do  than  do.  But  1  suppose  the  laws  just, 
righteous,  holy,  and  for  public  good,  and  that  apparently  so,  and  j 
not  in  saying  so  only.  Now,  liei'e  lo  cost  olT  laws  is  to  cast  oS^  I 
ChrUt.  .^ 

There  are  two  things,  especially,  which  are  the  cause  and  oc-i 
cafiion  of  the  lireach  of  all  other  laws,  and  the  strongest  sins  and 
■wectcsl,  which  men,  young  men  especially,  the  hopes  of  the 
common  wealth,  are  caught  with.  (Pruv.  ii.  13,  IG.) 

1.  Whoredom,  secret  lusts,  and  wantonness,  and  other  stntnge 
lusts  which  I  cease  and  dare  not  name.  (1  Kings  xiv.  24.)  The 
sin  before  Shishak  came,  a  sin  which  many  limes  Solomon  coa 
not  see  through  bis  window,  nor  the  eye  of  authority  discern ; 
bul  "  God  will  judge  for  it,"  (Hub.  xiii.  5  ;)  and  if  he  be  judge, 
who  shall  be  thy  jailer,  but  Salan?  and  what  shall  lie  thv  sen- 
tence, but  death  ?  and  what  thy  chains,  hut  a  hard  heart  for  the 
present,  and  horror  afterward  ?  A  sin  wliich  pollutes  the  very 
earth,  the  land,  the  very  dust  of  the  ground,  and  the  cause  of  aJ , 
■in  aIniiMt  in  a  pUce,  as  drunkenness,  idleness,  corrupt  opinions, 


I 


I 


A    WIIOLESOJtE   CAVEAT 

(scoffing  at  Ihe  minislfi-i!  of  God  and  ways  of  God  :  for^  seldom 
knew  a  [lerseculor  but  he  was  an  adulurrer,  though  it  is  not  al- 
ways tru';,  and  in  llie  end,  poverty  anil  ruin. /And  know  it, 
thuugh  no  man's  eye  has  seen  thee,  no  power  or  ninf;istrale  can 
rtiocli  thee,  this  word  shall  be  fire  to  consume  ihee,  unless  ihon 
repent,  for  [hy  looks,  thy  lusts,  thy  dalliances,  thy  thoughts,  thy 
ep«eches,  thy  endeavors  this  way,  mu<!h  more  for  (he  thing. 
Man's  law  shall  not  bind  you  here,  because  it  can  not  reach  you  ;  / 
but  know  that  Clirisl  is  cast  off  by  you.  /^ 

C*^.  Loose  ntmpanj',  vain  men.  (Prov.  sxv.  3,  4.)  }  A  commcm- 
ealth  is  a  refined  ves.sel  of  use  for  God,  and  judgment  is  eaUib- 
lished  ;  when  these  ar»  taken  away,  your  knots  of  loose  company. 
Take  a  poor  soldier  alone,  he  is  as  oilier  men  ;  but  when  lUey  we 
got  into  a  knot  together,  now  they  grow  strong  against  all  laws 
of  God  or  men.  So  here  the  knot  of  good  fellowship  bath  been 
the  hnne  of  the  flourishing  slAle  of  England,  meeting  in  lavems 
and  such  places ;  and  the  cause  of  whoredom,  and  of  all  evil, 
Oonimonly  in  a  nation.  For  hence,  1.  Much  precious  lime  is 
lost,  which  if  spent  in  praying,  as  in  sporting  with  them,  many  » 
young  man's  soul  had  been  blessed.  Hence  sometimes  dicing, 
feasting,  excessive  drinking,  merry  tales,  which  take  off  all  spir- 
itual joy.  Hence  filthy  songs,  and  lascivious  speeches,  hy  which 
hopeful  young  men  are  insnared,  and  taught  to  do  wickedly,  and 
M  knit  to  them,  that  it  is  death  to  part  with  them ;  and  it  is  better 
.  to  bum  a  whole  town,  than  lo  poison  one  hopeful  young  man. 
Next  to  communion  with  wanton  women,  I  have  ever  looked 
unnecessary  fellowship  with  graceless  men  as  the  nest.  Well, 
ow  it,  you  onst  off*  the  Lord's  government  from  you  by  his 
■ervants,  which  will  be  sad  to  answer  for  another  day.  And  as 
ike  prophet  said  to  Jeboshaphat,  "  Shouldest  thou  love  them  that 
hate  the  Lord  ?  hb  wrath  is  against  thee  for  thii<,"  so  say  I  to 

I       f^ue»t.  3.    Inferior  power,  when  is  that  cast  off,  viz.,  in  particu- 
lar cities  or  towns,  by  meaner  persons? 

Ant.     I  shall  espi-ess  it  in  three  things  chiefly. 
].  When  soldiers  in  particular  towns  ca»t  off  respect,  care, 
conscience,  to  ^e  commands  of  their  leaders  set  over  them  of 
I  God,  and  who,  under  God,  are  the  walls  of  outward  safety  for 
\th^ country  ;  it  is  not  now  an  artillery  day,  only  I  niusl  speak  a 
/'word  because  it  is  a  thing  of  moment,  and  matter  of  great  eon- 
science  with  me.     I  gup|)0se,  in  such  a  place,  at  least,  according 
to  the  centurion's  example  amongst  heathens,  (Malt.  viii.  9.)  a 
word  of  a  commander  to  any  of  them  should  be  a  law.     "  I  say 
!,  Go,  and  he  goes."     Now.  fur  men  lo  come  when  Ihoy  list 


may  L 
mny    )■ 


FOR  A   TIME   OF  l.IBEKTT.  345 

to  tliose  meetings,  and  so  time  is  lost,  and  when  the7  do  come, 
no  care,  I  LfliI  almost  said  conscience,  to  nijnd  their  work  in  hand, 
and  do  it  with  all  their  might,  as  it  to  which  they  are  called;  but 
ofHcers  may  speak,  charge,  cry,  yea,  strike  sometimes,  yet  heed 
not,  it  is  intolerable  ;  but  that  members  of  churches,  which  should 
be  examples  to  others,  should  do  this,  at  least  it  is  but  bmtishness. 
But  I  do  wonder  what  rules  of  conscience  such  do  walk  by.  and 
if  they  do,  where  is  their  tenderness  to  withdraw  their  shouldera 
from  under  the  work  ?  which  if  there  be  but  English  blood  in  a 
Christian,  be  will  endeavor  to  be  perfect  in  his  art  herein  ;  but 
if  grace,  much  more,  that  he  may  make  one  stone  in  the  wall, 
and  be  fit  to  shed  his  blood,  if  need  be,  fojythu  defense  of  Christ's 
eerranta,  churches,  and  cause  of  God.  /"^ 

2.  When  any  town  doth  cast  off  the  power  and  rule  of  Ii 
men,  set  by  the  supreme  magistrate  to  make  such  orders  as  may   I 
make  for  the  public  weal  thereof.     I  know  sometimes  men  may 
not  be  sc  able,  wise,  and  carry  matters  imprudently.     Town 
orders  may  also  sometimes  want  that  weight,  that  wisdom,  those 
cautions,  ihRt  mature  consideralioa  as  is  meet,  as  also  that  due 
and  prudent  publication,  that  all  may  know  of  them,  with  records 
of  them.     But  take  town  orders  that  be  deliberately  made,  pru- 
dently published,  for  the  public  peace,  profit,  comfort  of  the  place, 
to  oppose  these,  or  persons  that  make  these,  with  much  care,  tear,  j 
tenderness,  if  I  know  any  thing,  is  a  sin  of  a  crying  nature,  pro- 
voking God,  and  casting  off  hia  goTeniment.     I  confess,  if  the^  . 
be  not  care  here,  I  know  no  way  of  living  under  any  goveiiD-  | 
ment  of  church  or  commonwealth,  if  the  public  affairs  of  tll6 
town  be  cost  off.     I  know  sometimes  godly  and  dear  to  CliriaL 
may,  through  weakness,  want  of  light,  sudden  paMioo,  and  vio- 
lent temptation,  oppose  here  ;  but  I  um  persuaded,  if  they  be  the 
Lord's,  he  will  in  time  humble  them  for  il,  and  make  them  belter 
■ifler  it.  - 

I  know  the  answer  (o  two  questions  would  clear  up  all  Hw 
doubts  about  this  matter.  1.  What  prudence  should  be  used  in 
making  laws.  2.  How  fiir  those  human  laws  and  town  orders 
bind  conscience.  But  1  can  not  attend  these  :  only  six  things  I 
would  here  say.  .^_^ 

n  The  will  and  law  of  God  only  hath  supreme,  absolute,  and  1 
sovereign  power  to  bind  conscience,  (i.  e..  to  urge  it  or  constr 
either  to  excuse  Ibr  doing  well,  or  to  accuse  for  sin  ;  far  c 
•cience  is   at  liberty  without   this :)  this   is  a   truth  urged   by  a 
orthodox  Proteslant  divines  against  the  Papists;  so  that  no  lav.    . 
cau  immcdiaiely  bind  conscience,  but  God's.  __  ' 

1.  Because  he  only  b  Lord  of  conscience;  becaiue  he  made 


ilute,  and  1 

for  oon- 
;d  byall 
t  no  law 


;  and  hence  Ite  oa\y  is  fit  (o 


8i6 


it,  aod  governs  il,  aoil  only  knc 
prescribe  rule^  for  it. 

2.  Because  lie  only  can  «avc  or  dcsiro;  (he  eoul ;  hath  only 
power  to  make  laws  for  (he  bouI  to  bind  conscience.  (James  ir. 
12.)  "  There  ie  one  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  Bave  or  desiroy," 
(Is.  xxxiii.  33  :)  for  the  law  which  soliinds  conscience  to  a  duty 
tliat  the  breach  of  it  is  a  sin,  and  Ihat  againsl  God :  we  knov 
that  the  least  Bin  of  itself  destroys  the  soul,  binds  it  over  to 
death,  but  none  have  power  to  destroy  it  but  the  Lord  himself.    ^ 

3.  Because  the  law  is  sutlicient  to  guide  the  whole  man,  in  its 
whule  course,  in  all  the  actions  or  occasions  it  meddles  with  or 
takes  in  linnd,  even  in  civil  as  well  aa  in  religious  matters.  Pror. 
ii.  'J,  "  Wisdom  teachcth  every  good  path."  Ps-nnix.  11,  "I  have 
hid  thy  word,  (hat  I  might  not  sin."  Whatever  one  doth  witb- 
oitt3.IulfiJxQm_Ilie_wurd,  ia_  not  of  faith.  Hence  the  word  de- 
scends to  the  moat  petty  occMibns  of  our  lives  ;  it  teachetb  mea 
how  In  look,  (Ps.  cxxxi.  1,)  how  to  speak,  (MatL  xJi.  36 ;)  it  de- 
scends to  the  plaiting  of  the  hair,  (1  Pet  iii.  5,}  moving  of  the 
feet,  (Is.  iii,  16  ;)  and  what  is  of  Christian  liberty  hath  its  free- 
dom from  the  word  :  a  man  must  give  an  account  at  the  last  day 
of  every  stirring  of  heart,  thoughts,  motives,  and  secret  words  ; 

-  and  if  so,  then  it  mu^t  be  according  to  the  rule  of  the  word  ;  and 
hence  the  word  only  hath  absolute  power  to  bind  masters,  ser- 
,  vaniB,  and  princes  how  they  govern,  and  people  how  they  sub- 
ject ;  and  this  the  Xiord  hath  done  to  make  men  take  counsel 
from  him,  and  walk  in  fear  before  him,  and  approve  themselves 
to  him,  especially  townsmen  in  their  places  nut  to  consult  with- 
out God. 

r"^  All  good  laws  and  orders  enacted  in  any  place  by  men  are 
teitlicr  expressly  mentioned  in  the  word,  or  are  to  be  collected 
and  deducted  from  the  word,  as  being  able  to  give  euSicient  direc- 
;  lion  iierein.  For  all  the  authority  of  the  highest  power  on  earth, 
''in  contriving  of  laws,  is  in  thid  alone,  vis.,  to  make  prudent  col- 
lection and  special  application  of  the  general  rules,  recorded  in 
Scripture,  to  such  special  and  peculiar  circumstances  which  may 
promote  the  public  weal  and  good  of  persons,  places,  proceedings. 
Prov.  viii.  85,  "  By  me  princes  decree  justice."  Josh.  i.  7,  8, 
"  Do  what  Moses  commanded ;  turn  not  on  either  hand."  O/^'tct. 
But  I  can  not  see  my  way  from  hence  always.  Meditate  there- 
fore on  it  much,  and  then  thy  way  shall  prosper,  etc  Alany 
tilings  Joshua  did  not  particularly  set  down  by  Moses,  but  may 
be  collected  from  it.  Deut.  i.  17-20,  "The  king  is  to  have  it, 
that  he  may  prolong  his  days  in  the  midst  of  Israel,"  in  his  king- 
dom.     What  made  Uehoboam  to  turn  from  these  ways  ?     He 


I 


I 


L   TIME   Oy   LIBEKTr. 


347 


tlimi|;lil  he  cauld  not  slablJEh  his  kingdom  without  it  i  that  wae, 
therefore,  the  ruin  of  liim  and  his  kingdom^^ 

1.  This  appeara  bernu^o  iLe  word  u  i^ulticieiit  lo  direct,  as 
hath  been  ahown ;  and  hence  all  directions  and  rules  are  to  be 
taken  from  honce. 

2.  Because  either  men  have  rules  lo  walk  by,  or  their  own 
wills  and  npprehenaiuns  are  to  be  rules  ;  but  not  eo,  because  men's 
wills  arc  not  only  corrupt,  but  it  is  a  peculiar  prerogative  lo  God 
lo  be  obeyed,  because  of  his  will.  The  reason  or  wisdom  whieli 
makes  a  rule  binds  ;  which,  if  it  be  right,  is  part  of  the  law  writ 
in  the  heart,  which  is  most  plainly  seen  and  fully  opened  in  the 
word,  whence  direction  is  to  be  bad.  ••— 

3.  Human  laws  or  orders,  thus,  either  set  down  in  the  word,] 
or  deducted  from  the  word,  and  applied  by  those  that  be  in  placel 
in  towns,  though  they  do  not  bind  conscience  firstly,  as  human,! 
or  by  humnn  power,  (i.  e.,  as  published  and  imposed  by  man,)  I 
yet  they  do  bind  secondarily,  (i.  e.,  by  virtue  of  ihe  law  of  God,)  1 
wherein  they  are  contained,  or  from  whence  they  are  derived  and  I 
deducted,  and  according  lo  which  they  arc  opposed :  they  are  likq  I 
tuhpainiu  in  the  king's  name,  or  writs  of  arrest,  which  by  virtue  1 
of  higher  power  challenge  obedience.  And  thus  to  break  these  | 
is  to  bin  against  God,  nnd  makes  the  conscience  liable  lo  punish-  j 
ment  from  God  ;  and  the  reason  is,  —  ^J 

1.  Because  men  sin  hereby  against  the  Lord,  and  his  holy, 
righteous  law,  because  God's  law  is  contained  in  these ;  and  what 
is  deducted  from  the  word  is  God's  word.  1  Sam.  viii.  7,  "  They 
have  not  rejected  ihee,  but  me." 

2.  Because  tbey  sin  against  the  power  of  the  magistrate  here- 
by, and  against  men  in  place,  and  so  against  more  means.  Rom. 
xiii.  %  "  lie  that  rcsisieth  Ihe  power  resisieth  the  ordinance  of 
God ; "  i.  e.,  when  they  command  thee  according  lo  God,  which 
Ihe  Lrfird  takes  very  ill ;  and  the  meaner  the  power  is,  (as  iu 
lowns.)  the  more  terrible  will  the  Lord  be  when  he  comes  to 
vibit  for  it ;  hence  they  receive  to  themselves  ^mnalion  both  by 
God  and  men. 

It  is  true,  if  ihey  be  not  ihus  according  to  the  wonl,  but  rather 
against  the  general  rules  of  it:  though  men  in  towns  and  plac«a 
are  not  lo  be  obeyed,  yet  subjection  is  their  due,  even  then  ;  i.  e., 
not  to  refuse  obedience  with  contempt  of  their  persons,  places,' 
power,  or  scandal  lo  iheir  proceedings,  or  profession  of  ihe  gos- 
pel, "  Revile  not  the  Lord's  high  priest ;  speak  evil  of  no  man  ;" 
but  ralher  come  in  private,  and  confer  with  them, and  hear  what 
nay  he  said,  and  be  willing  to  give  and  take  reason. 

4.  Human  laws  and  ordera  mny  be  known  to  be  according  (a 


1 

I 
I 


r 


the  word,  when  they  command  or  foi'hid  such  things  as  really 
udvance  or  tend  to  [iromoie  the  public  good. 

Tliia  I  add  to  answer  lliat  great  queation  in  many  scrupulous 
minds.  I  can  not  see  (so  ignorant)  when  an  order  is  coUecIed  from 
the  general  rulea  of  the  word  ;  now  thia  conclusion  answers  that 
(doubt:  for  lookfaa  the  main  work  of  men  in  place  is  to  pro- 
mote public  good,  (and  hence  public -spirited  men  are  to  be  chosen 
for  it,)  BO  the  principal  rule  is  that  which  God  and  his  word 
gives  ihera  to  walk  by :  whatever  really  dolh  lend  to  the  advance* 
Iment  of  that,  publish  that,  record  that,  and  execute  that,  i  Rom. 
"  He  is  Giod's  minister  to  thee  for  good ;  "  i.  e.,  for  the  pub- 
1.  Ho  is  for  men's  private  good,  but  it  is  in  reference  to 
public  good  ;  that  as  private  persons  are  to  attend  their  work,  eo 
public  persona  pubUc  good.  Hence,  1.  If  a  law  be  made  for 
public  hurt,  that  law  is  not  of  God. 

Xi  Hence,  if  the  law  be  made  only  for  the  private  good  of 
I  themselves,  or  any  particular  person,  and  hurls  the  public,  that 
is  not  according  to  God.     Admirable  was  Joshua's  spirit  herein. 
nh.  xix.  49,  50.) 

,  If  laws  be  only  in  apjienrance  and  pretense  for  public 
good,  and  not  rc^ly,  they  bind  not ;  none  must  do  evil,  much 
less  moke  a  law  of  it,  fur  public  good.  Nothing  more  usual 
than  to  make  civil  laws  and  orders  crossing  God's  Jaw,  and  to 
pretend  public  good,  which  ever  prove  the  public  pests,  and 
plagues,  and  cankers  of  that  place,  as  Jeroboam's  command  fur 
religion.  Some  things  are  forbidden  plainly ;  they  make  not 
for  public  good,  but  hurt  —  the  statutes  of  Omri.  Other  things 
are  indifferent  in  their  nature,  as  swine  to  go  abroad,  or  to  be 
shut  up ;  but  inconvenient  in  their  use,  and  hurtful  and  scandal- 
ous, and  tliat  really  to  the  general.  They  are  not  for  public 
good,  whatever  is  pretended.  Some  things  are  plainly  commanded; 
they  are  for  the  public  good  circumslAntiated :  some  things 
are  indiScrent  in  their  nature,  hut  convenient  and  comforlable  in 
tlieir  use ;  those  are  indeed  according  to  God.  And  such  things 
may  be  discerned,  they  are  so  obvious  and  sensible,  of  such 
,  necessity  and  such  profit,  when  duly  considered  by  persons  not 
blinded  with  their  private  interests. 

4.  Hence  things  indifferent,  which  may  as  well  be  left  undone 

as  done,  and  so  public  good  no  way  advanced,  are  not  of  God, 

thai  any  should  restrain  them  ;  tor  the  liberty  which  Christ  hath 

I       purchased  by  his  blood,  and  which  God's  law  gives,  no  law  of 

.^    man  can  abolish  or  take  away.     It  is  the  cry  of  the  clawbaeks 

tof  princes,  that  they  have  power  in  things  indifferent ;  i,  e.,  such 
Ikuigg  which  make  as  much  for  public  good  not  to  use  as  use  : 


FOB  A  TIME  OF  LiBEnrr.  349 

the  truth  i»,  he  katli  least  power  here :  because  ther  are  idle 
and  idol  laws;  no  hurt,  nor  is  there  good  in  them.  And  henc« 
some  of  the  most  rigid  scliuolmco  intiinUiin  such  laws  bind  not 
conscience ;  we  are  not  to  seek  our  private  odI^  :  now,  all  hum&a 
laws  arti  helps  to  seek  public. 

^i.  That  laws  mode  for  and  according  to  God  for  public  good, 
if  thej  do  not  destroy  some  men's  particular,  only  for  some 
time  pini-'h  and  press  hard  upon  hie  particular  good,  or  their 
particular  good,  men  are  bound  in  conscience  here  to  subroiL 
True,  1.  If  it  were  possible,  all  laws  for  public  good  should 
hurt  no  particolar  man ;  and  townsmen,  if  tbt'j  can,  should 
help  ibose  that  are  hurt ;  yet  because  no  laws  but  usually  ihcy 
will  press  on  some  man's  particular,  the  heaviest  end  of  a  atafl* 
that  is  to  be  borne  must  fall  on  some  man's  shoulder,  and  such 
laws  must  be  made.  Hence  n  man  is  to  bear  and  submit  cheer- 
fully, i.  e.,  from  ihR  pilj*  "f  '■>Yg,  '"''''•'i  will  abate  of  particular 
for  the  general  good ;  love  that  more  than  mine  own.  2,  The 
law  of  justice  :  a  man  is  to  do  as  ho  would  be  done  by ;  there  is 
no  man,  but  if  his  good  was  advanced  by  the  general,  hut  would 
be  content  that  Bome  particular  should  be  pinched.  S.  The  law 
of  nature :  the  stomach  is  content  to  be  sick,  and  body  weak,  to 
beol  the  whole  body.  Hence  Christians  should  not  think  that 
ton-nsmen  are  careless,  unjust,  and  aimed  at  their  hurt,  when  it 
is  thus.  (I  Kings  xii.  4.) 

6,  A  mere  penal  law  when  it  is  broke,  the  forfeiture  is  si^fll- 
cieot  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  offense,  or  trespass,  but  not  in  » 
miscd  law. 

Firsl.     A  penal  law  is  about  thinp  of  small  moment. 

Secondly.  It  is  not  made  by  way  of  command,  but  with  ao 
aul,  a  dbjunctive  copula,  and  b  indeed  rather  a  proviap  than 

Thirdly.  It  is  in  the  mind  of  the  law,  make  Mitisfoctory  if  the 
I>cnalty  be  paid,  though  tlie  law  be  not  performed,  because  tlie 
public  good  in  ihe  mind  of  the  lawmaker  is  known  to  be  set 
forward  tliat  way  as  by  obedience  lo  the  law.  In  these  cases 
penalty  is  enough  ;  but  il'  the  law  be  mixed,  i.  e.,  there  is  a  com- 
mand it  shall  be  done;  and  lawgiver  is  sad,  though  penally 
being  paid,  as  being  about  a  mailer  of  weight ;  it  may  be  the 
livelihood  and  comfort  of  men,  as  keeping  bogs  out  of  corn,  and 
peace  in  a  town,  that  there  be  no  eomphtining  ;  here  the  penally 
will  not  satisfy,  because  this  is  no  penal  law,  but  a  law  indeed 
deducted  from  rules  of  the  word  of  God ;  as  it  b  in  thefl,  he 
that  eleala  «baU  pay  fourfold ;  or  that  brawls  shall  be  dudied 
in  the  wMer.  Suppose  one  should  say,  I  will  suffer  my  servant 
VOL.  111.  SO  "■ 


\ 


SoO  A    WIIOLCSUSIF.   CAVEAT 

to  Steal  or  revile ;  I  hope  it  is  no  offense  it  he  EufTer  the  penalty. 
Yea,  but  it  is,  because  it  is  nui  a  mere  penal  law ;  ilm  thing  is  of  ■ 
weight;  peace  between  neiglibora,  so  peace  in  a  town.  It  is  a  flat 
chftrge  not  to  break  it,  and  thou  knowest  mch  ia  the  hon^sij 
and  justice  of  a  magislrale,  (hat  he  will  say,  I  would  rather  you 
would  never  do  thus  than  offer  those  to  do.  Hence  in  God*s 
taw  Christ  must  suffer,  and  do  also,  because  Grod'a  law  is  not 
merely  penal :  hut  doing  ihe  thing  gives  more  content  than  tlie 
punishment. 

3.  When  servants  cast  off  all  subjection  to  their  governors,— 
families  being  the  members  and  foundations  of  towns,  and  RO 
of  commonwealths,  —  when  they  ar«  not  obedient,  but  answer 
again ;  if  they  be  let  alone,  then  idle ;  if  rebuked  and  carbed, 
then  Htubborn  and  proud,  and  worse  for  chiding,  and  Hnd  fault 
with  their  wages,  and  victuals,  and  lodging ;  weary  and  vex  out 
the  heart  of  master  and  mistress,  and  make  thera  weary  of  their 
lives,  and  (heir  God  also  almost  sometimes,  and  that  by  such 
professing  religion,  and  all  that  they  might  be  from  under  the 

r~  And  here  I  can  not  but  set  a  mark  upon  servants  broho  looM 

IfrouLlheir  masters,  and  got  out  of  iheir  time,  that  arc  under  no 

ifamily  nor  church  government,  nor  desiring  of  it,  or  preparing 

[for  it :  but   their   reins  are  on   their  necks./   I  confess,  if  undw 

/uealhen  masters,  then  desire  liberty  rather;  but  when  men  wOl 

/    live  as  they  list,  without  any  over  them,  and  unfit  to  rule  them* 

'selves,  I  much  doubt  whether  this  be  according  to  God. 

I        1.  Hence  they  come  lo  live  idly,  and  work  when  they  list. 

I        2.  Hence  men  of  public  use  can  have  little  use  but  when  thc^ 

please  of  them. 

3.  When  ihey  be  with  Ihem,  they  have  no  power  to  eorrect,i 
or  examine,  and  call  Ihem  to  account,  in  regard  of  spirilud<l 
matters. 

4.  Hence  they  lie  in  wait  lo  oppress  men  that  must  have  he^' 
from  them,  and  so  will  do  what  they  list. 

fi.  Hence  they  break  out  to  drunkenness,  whoring,  and  looM 
company. 
•      6.  Hence  they  make   otlier  servants   unruly,  and  to  desir^-' 

Now,  examine  and  try  ihese  tbinga:  is  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
oome  into  ua  ?  that  though  there  be  a  law  in  our  members  war- 
ring, yet  there  is  a  law  of  the  mind  warring  against  it,  and  de- 
lighting in  tho  will  of  Christ,  and  setting  him  up  as  chief.  Are 
we  under  ihu  kingdom  of  Christ  in  his  church  and  common- 
wcttlth  i  10  an  Ihe  soul  is  willing  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  power, 


I 


FOB  A   TIUE 


though  there  be,  and  have  been,  some  pangs  of  resistance  against 
'  persons  and  against  ordinances;  so  hs  it  is  ih/  libertj'  to  be 
subject  to  Christ  in  hia  ordiniuices,  in  his  servants  ;  and  it  is  ihy 
bondage  to  he  otherwise,  and  tfaou  longest  for  that  daj,  that  the 
Lord  would  subdue  all  those  boisterous  lusls,  and  pride,  and  pas- 
sions, and  bruiM  sin,  Satan,  and  self  under  their  feet?  Then  I 
say,  OS  the  Lord,  (Is.  xxxiii.  20-22.)  "  I.ook  upon  Zion,  the  dty 
of  your  solemnity,"  ete.      (See  Rom.  viii.  7,  1.) 

But  if  the  heart  grows  loose  and  licentious,  and  breaks  the 
Lord's  bonds  and  yokes,  and  will  be  led  by  your  own  fleshly  enda 
and  lusts,  and  so  go  on  quietly,  be  you  assured  this  trutli 
■ball  have  a  time  to  lake  hold  of  such  spirits ;  and  know  it  as- 
suredly, it  is  not  to  be  m  Christ's  family  or  kingdom  ;  it  is  not 
■crambiing  for  promises,  catching  at  God's  grace,  talking  of  as- 
surance of  God's  love,  which  will  shelter  you  from  the  wrath  of 
the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  to  whom  God  hath  sworn 
that  every  knee  shall  bow.  It  is  service  and  subjection  which 
the  Lord  mms  at,  and  which  the  Lord  looks  for.  I  know  it  is 
God's  grace  which  only  can  save;  but  it  will  never  save  vrhen 
it  is  turned  into  Ucentiousness. 

Do  not  say.  There  is  no  danger  of  it  here,  whore  we  have 
Buch  means,  and  such  liberties  are. 

Ant.  I.  Never  such  danger  of  being  licentious  as  in  places 
of  liberty,  when  no  bit  nor  bridle  of  external  tyranny  to  curb  in. 

i.  Look  on  the  kingdom  of  Judah  here,  which  in  one  year  all 
fell. 

3.  Why  doth  the  Lord  exercise  ns  with  wants  and  straits? 
It  is  to  hamble  us,  and  abate  our  unrulineas.  And  it  is  the 
Lord's  quarrel  with  his  best  people  to  this  day ;  desperate  rebal- 
liuus  hearts,  that  close  not  with  bis  government. 

Do  not  say.  We  know  not  how  bondage  should  come  here, 
though  we  should  cast  off  the  Lord's  government. 

Am.  1.  The  Lord  c-an  let  loose  the  natives  against  us.  Ahab 
kills  one  million  of  Benhadad's  men,  but  afterward,  within  seven 
years,  he  returns  again. 

2.  The  Lord  can  raise  up  brambles,  and  Abiipelechs  to  bo 
the  king  of  the  trees,  when  the  olives  and  the  vines  are  loth  to 
forsake  their  places,  and  to  lose  their  fatness  and  sweetness. 

3.  The  Lord  can  tumlbe  hearts  of  those  in  power  against  peo- 
ple, and  let  Satan  sow  suspicions,  and  sow  seditions  and  cUshings. 

4.  The  Lord  ciui  leave  us  into  one  another's  bands  to  oppress, 
I  to  take  away  the  nether  millstones. 

&.  If  none  of  these,  Satan,  nay,  Christ  himself  will  come  out 
with  garnients  dippped  in  blood. 


r 


85S 


CAVEAT 


i 


3.  Do  not  e&y,  Tl  is  not  so  ;  (here  ia  sireet  Bubjeoti 
ie  so,  and  blessed  be  Gud  for  it ;  yet  beware,  I  £|>eak  to  preventi' 
But  yeU  1-  Some  Becm  U>  do  so,  and  yet  are  not  &o.  2  Coi 
4,  5,  "  Mighty  to  pull  down  every  high  thought : ' 
this,  who  cao  be  thugf^  Yet  there  are  means  migbty  for  this 
end :  not  that  all  be  abolished,  but  all  are  abolishing.  2. 
Others  otherwise,  openly  how  zealona  for  an  opinion,  when  it 
should  be  death  to  differ,  and  tilings  in  your  own  heart  lying  mis- 
erably waste,  and  some  wretched  luat  the  root  of  all,  for  which 
God's  saints  mourn  in  secret.  Let  such  know  that  will  not  be  ruled 
by  Christ,  or  his  servants  or  ordinances,  but  will  have  them  to 
rule  them,  and  not  to  be  ruled  by  them.  The  Lord's  chains  are 
near ;  and  therefore  now  take  your  time,  and  come  in,  submit  to 
the  Lord,  and  do  as  these  here  did,  acknowledge  the  Lord  to  ba 
righteous,  and  turn  unto  ihe  Lord. 

Um  6.  Of  thankfulness  for  our  present  liberties,  and  freedom 
from  the  ba"<^»g°  °f  men,  bondage  of  conscience,  bondage  of 
Satan  and  sin  :  need  there  is  of  laying  this  use  seriously  to  heart, 
considering  two  things  principally :  1.  The  general  complainta  of 
the  country,  aa  they  of  Jericho.  2  Kinga  ii.  10,  "The  water* 
ore  bad,  and  the  ground  barren ; "  and  these  are  engraven 
blei  all  other  our  libertiea  are  written  on  the  water.  2.  The  di>* 
grace  and  reproach  cast  upon  God's  people  and  ways  of  Go^ 
and  that  unjustly,  which  I  aiu  afraid  to  mention  ;  whence  lh( 
grows  a  contempt  of  them,  and  the  rivers  of  Bumascus 
better  than  Jonluti.  O  beloved,  if  it  be  a  heavy  hand  of  God 
to  be  under  bondage,  then  look  on  it  as  a  special  grace  of  God 
to  free  us  from  bondage.  Deut.  xxxJi.  11, 12,  "  The  Lord  alone 
did  tend  them,"  etc. ;  and  Moses,  (chap,  zxxiii.  29,)  when  he  had 
blessed  them,  "  Happy  art  thou,  O  Israel,  a  people  saved  by  the 
Lord."  And  Ihe  greater  cause  we  have  to  do  this,  a  people  that 
have  abused  all  liberties.  (Is.  ix.  U-IO.)  He  lauenla  it,  but 
yet  is  thankful  for  it  to  God's  grace  :  no  man  that  can  say  bat  he 
may  be  as  holy  as  he  will,  and  none  to  curb  or  snib. 

Afeam  1.  Consider  what  all  the  liberties  God's  people  enjoj 
have  cost.  Gal.  v.,  ''Christ  halh  made  you  free,''  i.  e.,  by  his 
blood.  Liberty  of  conscience  from  the  bondage,  not  of  Jewish, 
but  of  anti-Christian  ceremonies,  and  government,  and  pressures  ; 
liberty  of  will  from  any  sin ;  it  is  by  Christ's  blood  and  coat, 
that  (as  I  am  persuaded)  our  liberties  have  cost  saints  their  blooL 
The  tears,  prayers,  and  blood  of  men  are  much,  but  of  Chtiat 
much  more  ;  and  arc  they  not  worth  thanks  that  are  of  tliis  price  ? 
The  great  reason  why  untlmnk fulness  comes  in  is,  because  tbey 
cost  BO  much,  as  loss  of  estate,  of  wife,  or  of  child,  by  sea;  dost 


I 


FOR   A    TIUE   OF   1 


SJ3  ■ 


thou  repent  now  ?     ClirUt  doth  not  repent  that  liis  blood  haih 
■  been  paid  for  them  ;  and  if  they  be  of  so  little  value  as  there  it  ia 
said,  "He  repented  ihftt  he  made  mati,"  so  miiy  he  thai  ever  be 
gave  ihem  suob  gbrious  Uberlics. 

2.  Consider  oft  of  ibe  sod  condition  of  them  Ibat  be  in  bond- 
Mge.  Men  in  bondage  prize  liberlj,  and  ihitik  ihera  bappy  ibut 
enjoy  it :  but  men  out  of  it  do  not.  How  sad  is  ibe^considum- 
tton  of  tbem  Ibat  be  in  hoods !  it  will  make  tby  heart  sympa- 
tbiie  with  them,  and  bless  God  for  your  deliverance.  Hence 
saiih  Christ.  (Luke  xxii.  20.)  "  When  you  see  Jerusalem  com- 
passed witb  enemies,"  elc^  *'  Ity  to  the  mountains  ;  and  woe  to 
tbem  ibal  gire  suck."  Consider  ibem  that  are  taken  with  tbe 
Turkfl;  if  you  were  in  tbeir  condition  you  would  say  so;  to  bring 
forth  liirle  ones  to  the  murderer  or  idolater.  (Is.  xlii.  22  and  26.) 
Men's  hearts  failing  for  fear,  this  you  should  see  somewhere.  A 
moieoratliom  is  a  little  ihingi  but  no  raan would  have  it  always 
vexing  for  all  the  estate  he  bath,  if  he  hath  any  eye  or  tender- 
ness in  il ;  so  those  smalt  matters  fur  whieh  ibe  saints  have  suf- 
fered, and  for  whieb  God  is  provoked,  and  under  whieb  some 
hikve  roared,  and  others  have  been  loaded,  one  al^er  another,  it 
ia  worth  a  world ;  O,  bless  God  for  it :  but  consider  those  tluit  be 
under  the  dominion  of  sin  and  Satan,  so  strong  and  mio-enible ; 
■in  lio  dear,  that  tliere  is  not  so  much  as  a  sigh  under  that ;  be 
thankful  for  that. 

3.  Labor  to  maintain  in  the  heart  a  holy  fear  of  abusing  lib- 
erties, every  one  in  his  place  ;  for  what  makes  tbem  despised  bnti/ 
prineipuUy  the  abuse  of   them  ?     In   sueh  a  eongregalion  ibere"^ 
waa  sQcb  conleniion,  such  affront   to   tbe  elders,  there  is  ibal 
degenerating  of  spirit,  and  backsliding  from  God,  thai  men  grow 
worse  under  means  than  ever,  ay,  and  so  must  be  if  men   grow 
nut  better.    DeuL  vi.  10,  12.  The  Lord  exhorts  them  llial,  when 
ihey  be  at  liberty,  ihey  would  nol  iben  forget  the  Lord,  but  iben 
fear.     It  is  Luiber'a  note  on  the  place,  "  When  in  trouble,  you       , 
rejoice ;  but  when  in  peace,  you  fear."     I  will  only  name  tbe 
sins  of  liberty. 

1.  Take  heed  of  a  prayerless  spirit,  and  thai  Ibat  lamp  go  not 
out.  Men  under  some  pressures  cry,  and  it  is  lung  before  they  do 
ory  under  tbem,  and  under  ibeir  sin  ;  but  then  at  last  they  du.  . 
and  when  ibe  Lord  gives  bberty,  though  they  have  the  guilt  of 
tbe  same  sins,  and  more  sins  lie  on  them,  yet  then,  like  mariners 
when  the  storms  are  over,  fall  asleep.  It  is  strange  that  Israel, 
under  Pharaoh,  cried,  and  under  God's  utBlcling  band,  in  deny- 
ing ibem  water,  murmured.  True  thankl'ubiess  will  help  to  prize 
what  liberty  allbrds. 

30* 


Idil 

b 


iloving  spirit  to  (he  unints.     It  is  that  I  have  oflsai 
Boldiers,  when  lliey  are  set  ggniust  a  common  enemy,  are  hII  ooet 
liberty,  then  Iliey  Hing  juvelins  at  one  miotber's  heftdl, 
inion,  and  in  heart  and  afieclion,  and  it  is  not  dcaA 
BO  to  do.     Take  heed  of  a  rigid,  e<;n-«riou»,  unloving  spirit 

erne  ignorance  how  to  use  our  liberties,  and  licnee  ran- 
ning  lo  extremes.  Aa  we  say  of  Christ,  there  is  ^ood  enough  in 
him,  but  men  know  not  Iiow  lo  fet<^h  and  improve  it.  «o  there  'u 
great  advantage  in  liberties ;  but  men  mbs  of  it  through  their 
ignorance  and  abuse.  Hence  many  times  more  hurt  done  by  an 
admonition  than  by  the  ein,  when  administered  in  pasdioo,  and 
without  compassion.     Hence,  under  jireieose  of  liberty,  extreme 


I     ^  Imperiousncss  of  spirit,  arising  from  a  frothy  empli 

'and  an  overweening  opinion,  and  coneeitcdness  of  theii*  om 
abilities  and  wisdom  above  other?;  and  hence  will  not  Jte  ted'j 
(being  at  liberty)  by  the  counsel  and  advice  of  others, 
natural  for  miin  to  affect  sovereignty,  and  when  the  time  cornea  of 
liberty,  then  it  hath  a  vent :  "  Who  mode  thee  a  lord  and  judge 
over  us  ?  "  tliough  in  bondage,  mueli  more  in  liberty  ;  they  thiri 
will's  commonwealth  is  in  their  heads  chiefly,  and  hence  will  not 

.  be  ruled  by  God's  ordiuaoccs :  and  hence,  if  once  taken  with  an 

\  opinion,  hardly  ever  removed,  etc 

5.  Resting  with  liberties  aud  in  liberties. 
in  bondage,"  (John  viii.  33,)  "yet  Beri'ants  to  sin."  "We  be  Abr»> 
ham's  seed,"  belter  than  all  the  world  ;  yet  under  all  the  potrar. 
of  sin  and  Satan,  and  must   not  be    told  of  their   ways, 
halo  them  that  censure  them  for  their  sins.     Men  in  bondage 
like  sick  men,  that  will  cry  if  they  were  in  another  bed ;  O,  thi 
they  should  be  well ;    but    tli<-y  roust   first  be   cured   of  Ihi 

4.   Make  use  of  liberties.      He  that  bath  them,  but  fteei 
much  glory  in  lliera,  or  gels  not  much  good  from  them,  hi^ 

ore  thankful  than  one  that  hatb  large  grounds  may  walk  4( 


I 


liberty,  but  the  t 

ground  corn,  through  sloth  i  such  a 

as  ihey,  (Deut.  )       "     -"    --  ■ 


r  manuring,  bear  no  fruit,  nord 

'11  starve  tliere.    Look,  T 

10,  11.)  tlicy  were  "lo  bring  the  firat^ 

fruits,  and  present  them  before  the  Lord,  and  rejoice  in  all : 

should  you,  if  ever  you  be  thankful  (or  them,  bring  tlie  first  fruits 

to  the  Loi-d.  and  think  there  is  more  behind,  and  more  in  heaven. 

Objtct.  But  our  outward  straits  are  many,  and  temptations  sad. 

Ani.  It  Christ  himself  should  come  on  earth,  what  would  you 

Id  you  have  him  coiue  and  set  up  ao  cartlily 

paradise  ?  would  you  have  belter  entertainment  than  he,  who  had 


nol  that  which  foxes  nnd  binls  had  ?  or  would  you  huve  Uim  come 
from  his  cross,  and  then  you  will  make  him  king  ?  If  you  de- 
apbebie  onliiisDces  and  libertitw  because  of  want*,  you  would  de- 
spise bituBcIf  if  be  were  present.  But  you  will  reply,  and  say. 
What  if  we  can  have  both  ?  If  that  can  be,  and  Christ  calls 
to  take  both,  refuse  not  his  love,  liut  it  may  be  a  hea.vy  indict- 
raeni  against  some  al  the  last  day,  in  that  they  forsake  Christ, 
because  he  is  poor  and  naked;  for  they  are  therefore  called  to 
clothe  him :  and  tliia  will  be  your  peace,  and  you  will  be  no  losers 
yourselves  another  day. 

2.  Suppose  be  cloili  keep  us  low;  jct  (Ps.  cslv.  13,  14) 
"  His  dominion  is  alway,  and  rajscth  up  all  Ibut  are  bowed 
down."  O,  be  humbled ;  he  b  said  (Deut.  xxxii.  13)  "  to  make 
the  people  suck  honey  out  of  llie  rook,  and  oil  out  of  the  flint," 
sweetness  and  mercy  out  of  the  hardest  condition. 

3.  They  that  are  not  recompensed  for  their  enjoyment  of  lib- 
erties by  the  spiritual  refreahingB  which  the  Lord  gives,  showing 
them  more  of  their  own  hearts  ;  the  Lord  proclaims  liberty  to 
thera  to  depart.     I  am  persuaded  the  whole  country  would  flour- 

4.  I^aroent  rolhcr  your  own  vilencsn,  who,  in  tlie  midst  of  all 
mercy,  know  not  how  to  use,  but  abuse,  our  liberties :  and  henee 
the  Lord  forsakes  us.  (as  Eira  ix.  8,  10,  1 1.)  "  What  grace  bath 
been  showed  us?  wliat  shall  we  say,  that  after  this"?  etc. 
■*  Wouldest  thou  not  be  angry  with  us  till  Ihou  hast  consumed 
us?"  Fa.  Ixxxi.  13,  16,  "  0  that  my  people  had  heard  my  voice ! 
I  would  have  subdued  tlieir  enemies."  God  would  not  be  waol- 
iag  unto  us,  if  we  were  not  to  liim. 

Take  therefore  that  example  to  imitate,  in  Acts  ix.  31,"  Having 
rest,  tbey  were  edified."  If  we  be  not  so,  inily,  as  none  have  the 
like  liberties,  so  no  bondage  so  sad,  nowhere  such  poverty,  ito- 
where  such  anguish  of  conscience,  nowhere  such  spirit  and  power 
of  sin,  nowhere  such  sad  anger ;  if  in  practice  we  be  unthankful, 
or  can  rooutb  and  speak  against  long  sermons,  and  against  the 
country  and  Cbri^^lians,  or  in  hearU  undervalue  them ;  and  whqn 
you  see  Indians  rise,  brambles,  Abimelecbs,  and  Sbebtuu  raised, 
etc.,  then  know  ibis  is  for  abuse  of  liberty. 

U*e  7.  Of  exhortation,  to  come  under  Christ's  government, 
and  be  in  his  service ;  lest  ye  come  to  know  the  difference  be- 
tween il  and  some  other  by  experience. 

Motive  I.  You  must  be  either  under  Christ's  yoke,  or  Satan's 
sin's,  and  so  all  other  miseries  ;  and  tlierefore,  as  Joshua  said, 
k  PD  say  1  to  you :  "  Choosf  you  whom  you  will  serve." 

Mot.  i.  Consider  tlie  difference  between  the  service  of  the 
lliord  and  Sbishnk. 


I 


OU  A    WnOLESOUE    CAVEAT 

1.  The  goTemment  of  others,  tyrannical,  proud 
Satan,  or  outward  miseries ;  it  is  full  of  rigor,  force,  and  cruelly. 
Ezek.  xxsiv.  4.  "Wiih  force  and  cruelty  liaTO  ye  ruled  thein." 
But  Christ's  government  is  llicre  shown  to  be  in  mercy,  and  fall 
of  mercy;  though  somelimes  lost,  he  will  fetch  ihee  in  again; 
though  sick  and  weak,  he  will  heaJ  thee  agnin.  (Ver.  16;  Deut^ 
tv.  G.)  It  is  for  thy  good  the  Lord  halh  no  need  of  thy  servio^ 
etc.  True  it  is,  the  Lord  may  show  his  people  hard  things,  and 
give  tliem  sad  miseries  ;  but  these  wounds  do  not  kill  them,  only 
make  way  for  heating  the  distempers  of  their  hearts  thai  are  iii 
his  poor  weak  ones,  and  his  end  is  to  bring  them  lo  himself. 

2.  Their  guvemment  is  in  itself  hard  and  bitter.  To  serve  a 
lust  now,  it  is  a  torment  sometimes  to  conscience,  if  thst  be 
awake ;  if  not,  it  is  a  curse  of  curses ;  much  reluciancy  against 
it ;  much  chiding  afler  il,  and  God  hides  himself;  dreadful  fear^ 
and  heart  itself  unquiet.  But  Christ's  yoke  is  easy  and  bis 
burden  light ;  his  assistance,  and  presence,  and  love,  and  pcaos 
make  it  so,  and  that  daily,  and  at  death  especially. 

3.  There  is  tiltle  recompense  for  their  service.  The  best  that 
Saul  can  give  are  olive  fields  and  vineyards ;  but  anguish  of 
oonscieoce  after  the  work  is  done.  But  the  Lord  gives  a  king- 
dom ;  and  not  a  word  or  thought,  but  there  is  a  book  of  remem-. 
brance  writ;  not  a  cup  of  cold  water,  or  rag  to  any  of  Christ's 
naked  servants,  but  it  will  be  recom)>en3ed.  "  You  have  followed 
me,  you  sball  sit  on  thronsi:." 

Mot.  3.  Consider  how  fain  the  Lord  would  have  you  under 
his  government;  for  many  will  say,  I  have  refused  so  ofl,  and 
what  shall  I  now  do?  The  Lord  will  cast  me  by.  True,  he  may 
do  so,  and  you  may  be  glad  if  the  Lord  will  honor  yoo  in  dointf; 
his  work.  Yet,  (Prov.  li.  23,)  "  Return,  yon  scorners,  at  my  re- 
proof, and  I  wilt  pour  out  my  S|iirit  upCHi  you."  Jer.  xxxvi.  3,  7, 
"  Read  "  (says  God)  "  Iho  words  of  tlie  roll  lo  Ihem.  It  may  be 
they  will  hear,  and  present  their  supplications  before  the  Lord, 
and  turn  every  man  from  his  evil  way,  that  1  may  forgive  iheir 
iniquity  and  their  sin."  Read  ihe  place,  if  you  can,  without  tearb 
You  that  have  departed  from  God  and  Christ,  and  provoked' 
God's  wraih,  when  there  is  but  little  hope  left,  it  may  be,  O,  yet 
read  the  roll. 

Moi.  4.  Once  Christ's,  and  under  his  government,  yon  sball 
never  be  castotf.  "  .\s  sin  hath  reigned  unio  death,  so  shall  grace 
reign  unto  eternal  life."  (Itom.  v.  21.)  "  He  will  bestow  on 
you  the  sure  mercies  of  Dnvid,  by  an  everlasting  covenant." 
(la.  Iv.  5.) 

Qttett.     But  wherein  shoulU  I  submit  lo  the  Lord  ? 


I 


e 
I, 

i 


L    TIME   OF   LtBERTT. 


Ant.  Nane  bnve  power  to  rule  conscience  but  Christ;  givt 
him  ihcrefonj  this  glory  j  Ibat  wherein  he  binds  conscience,  con- 
science, not  out  of  tf;ar,  but  love,  may  indeed  submit.  I  have 
instiinced  tbc  particutara  formerly,  yet  more  distinctly.  There 
be  two  great  oommands  or  charges  of  Christ,  that  lie  upon  all 
men's  consciences  to  whom  the  gospel  comes,  and  therein  lies  our 
service  of  him  generally;  which  two  I  name,  because  there  no 
Ihink  we  are  free,  or  do  not  know  our  liberty. 

FirsL  The  command  of  Christ  is,  that  every  one,  to  whom  the 
gospel  comes  and  is  preached,  do  believe ;  i.  &,  receive  Christ  Jesus 
in  all  his  fullness  in  the  gospel.  (John  i.  12.)  For  that  is  to  be- 
lieve ;  in  which  command  lies  God's  offer.  1  John  v.  23,  "  This 
is  his  commandment,  that  ye  believe."  John  vi.  25,  37,  38,  "This 
b  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe."  Now,  here  men  think  they 
are  free.  1.  They  say  ibcy  are  unworthy  ;  and  bence  ihey  say. 
Depart  from  me.  Lord ;  I  am  a  sinful  roan ;  as  if  God's  grace  was 
buill  on  man's  worthiness.  2.  Because  unhumbled ;  whereas 
God's  grace  calls  in  men  unhumbled.  (Rev.  viii.  17,  18.)  For 
God's  call  and  o^r  is  general,  though  none  but  the  humble  will 
hearken  to  it.  But  there  are  none  but  it  may  be  said  to  them, 
If  they  can  believe,  let  them.  3.  Because  Christ  is  not  tlieirs, 
and  are  tliey  bound  to  believe  be  is?  whereas  the  first  act  of 
faith  is  not  to  believe  Christ  is  mine ;  then  men  were  bound  to 
believe  a  lie.  Bat  to  receive  Christ  as  a  woman  her  husband, 
that  be  may  be  mine  by  faith  ;  and  so  a  man  may  know  and  say. 
He  is  mine.  The  gospel  doth  nowhere  say  lo  any  man,  Christ  is 
thine ;  bnt  if  thou  receive  him,  he  b  thine,  and  consequently  the 
Spirit  speaks  so  also.  4.  Because  Ihey  can  not  beliere,  unlesa 
they  should  presume ;  as  if  the  gospel  bound  the  consdenee  of 
none  to  believe  but  them  that  were  able  to  believe  it,  and  receive 
Christ  in  it :  yet  it  is  otbenrise ;  for  it  binds  all  to  receive  Christ 
Jesus:  to  go  up  and  possess  him  ;  to  feed,  cat  and  drink,  and  live 
forever.  And  I  will  leave  ihb  one  undeniable  argument:  If 
men  are  liable  to  eternal  condemnation  at  the  great  and  last  day, 
and  to  bear  the  eternal  wrath  of  God  and  Christ  also,  for  dis- 
obeying the  gospel,  for  refusing  Christ  and  the  offer  of  his  grace 
therein,  then  those  men's  consciences  arc  bound  to  obey  the 
gospel :  i  e.,  to  believe  and  receive  Christ  now  in  this  life.  But 
all  that  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them  are  luible  la  eternal 
condemnation  for  disobedience  to  iL  (John  iii.  18, 19.)  Ps.  ii.  13, 
•'  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angrj-."  So,  (2  Thess.  il  8,  9,)  "  Ho 
comes  to  render  vengeance  on  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel." 
Rom.  iL  IS,  "The  Lord  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  by 
my  gospel  i "  that  is,  wherever  the  gospel  comes ;  for  Ihey  that 


I 


< 


L 


I 


858  A   1\-HOLESOHE   OkVILAT 


b&re  no  law,  baTing  no  law  fliall  nut  be  judged  by  it ;  liot  n 
that  have  bad  ihe  gos]>el  Khali  be  judged  by  it,  and  ilwreforc  ara  | 
bound  to  obedience  ihoremiio. 

Tlie  Berioua  connidernlton  of  wbirh  ono  tmlh  w  enough  Xo  I 
draw  alt  to  Christ  from  the  power  of  uubcltef ;  especialty  they  | 
IhM  say,  I  can  not  or  oogbl  not  betjere.     For  the  rmson  whjr  I 

1.  Tliey  think  ilie  gospel^  eencems  not  lh«B;  Wliat,  dolb  ihe 
Lord  eay  lo  itte.  Come,  so  vile  mtil  sinful  ?  Yes,  that  he  doth.  If 
there  was  no  sucb  law,  there  could  be  no  transgression  or  con- 
denwation. 

2.  They  tbink  tlicy  sball  prc«ame.  No,  if  con«cienc«  be  bound 
to  it,  it  ia  no  presumption  to  keep  a  Ssbbaih  aright,  or  to  receive 
Christ  as  God  offers  bka.     O,  this  qoiels  conscience. 

3.  The  Lord  lajrs  his  chiun  on  the  most  lender  place  of  con- 
science, as  it  wilt  answer  it  at  the  great  day,  or  will  have  anj 
peace ;  take  heed  you  refuse  not  so  great  salvaliMi. 

4.  It  is  a  chain,  not  of  bondoge,  but  of  Hb«rty,  trnd  mercy,  and 
love.  Come  and  receive,  not  a  kingdom,  but  Christ,  peace,  par- 
don, and  grace  freely  i  which  may  draw  the  heart,  as  it  will  al 
the  great  and  bst  day.  "  Come,  ye  blessed,  take  a  kingdom ; " 
take  a  Christ  prepared  lor  you  fron  before  the  foandalion  of  the 
world.  0  that  this  might  souDd  in  your  ears !  This  is  the  finil 
and  cliiefest:  without  ibis,  all  your  obedience  is  hypocrisy,  and 
abominable;  but  Ihit  will  please,  and  (ben  all  poor  vbedienca 
■hall  please. 

Secondly.  Love  unto  the  whole  will  of  Christ ;  especially  to 
that  part  trf  it,  to  love  those  that  be  the  niembers  iJ^CJirist.  Some 
Christians  they  believe,  and  teeTin'g'a  "heart  so  Swa  to  Christ, 
and  the  will  of  God,  think  they  are  from  under  the  government 
of  God  and  Christ,  and  so  from  under  the  grace  of  Christ,  (and 
the  argument  is  strong,  if  true ;)  but  why  not  under  bis  govern- 
nient?  Because  they  find  daily  a  sjaiii  so  cross  to  tlie  will  oi 
Christ,  and  Itcuce  under  continual  fears  of  condemnation.  0,  bul 
consider,  bast  thou  no  love  to  the  will  of  Christ  and  law  of  God  ? 
(forif  any  believe,  this  is  found  in  him:)  if  so,  tlien  nnder  Christ's 
iptvernmuikt.  llom.  viii.  2,  "  The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  hath 
made  me  free."  What  is  that  law  ?  See  chap.  vii.  23,34,  Spirit 
of  "delight  in  the  law  in  the  inner  man,"  and  mourning  for  con- 
trary cuptivtiy.  Know,  therefore,  though  you  can  not  do  all,  yet 
love  the  whole  will  of  God,  and  mourn  where  you  do  not ;  and 
Ibon  >ay.  Now  no  coDdumnation.  Do  not  say,  It  is  impossible. 
Oi  hui^  is  men's  woe,  and  trial  of  subjection  to  Christ's  will  I 
How  do  you  love  it,  love  bis  Sabbatlis  and  ordinances,  becausa 
of  liii  lovt)  to  >ou  ?     How  does  this  constrain  you  ? 


I 
I 


rOR   X   TIME  OF   LIBCSTY. 


359  ■ 


In  particular:  Love  t^gPeoplcofGodj  that  is  hU  special 
vommajidnicnt.  (1  John  iiiTzS;  liii,  ^4.)  But  now  the  want  ~ 
hereof,  or  the  oonlrary  hereto:  As  when  a  man  ihaU  become,  I.  .'' 
A  itiataster.  2.  A  contemaer.  3.  A  oensurer  and  nhieperer. 
4.  A  scoffer.  5.  If  met  on  a  bridge,  an  oppowr  of  the  truths  or 
Bervants  of  God.  This  is  that  which  kindles  wrath,  and  wherein 
the  inward  venom  of  hypocrisy  appears.  There  are  many  duties 
neglected,  and  not  that  spirit  of  prayer  and  holy  conferences 
anungst  Christians;  yet  do  you  keep  love  to  them;  that  what 
you  can  not  do  yourselves,  yet  you  love  others  Uiat  can  do  it,  and 
account  it  your  blesaednesa  to  be  like  ihem,  and  daily  mourn 
under  your  neglects ;  that  in  every  thing  the  gospel  is  not  adorned 
by  you  :  and  on  ttie  other  side,  although  you  have  many  duties, 
Sabbaths,  and  good  act?,  yet,  if  not  love,  all  is  vile.  I  fear  it  is 
tiot  men's  joy,  sweetness,  delight  to  hear  the  lea^t  good  word  that 
falls  froia  a  good  man's  tips,  but  rather  the  truths  and  things  of 
God  despised ;  if  so,  then  look  for  woe.  And  for  members  of 
Chri^  their  lives  not  desired,  their  deaths  ttot  lamented ;  but 
you  know  how  to  n}nt«nd,and  are  careJeas  though  the  gospel  and 
<Jod  be  slandered ;  you  east  off  the  Lord's  yoke.  /  It  was  oiffl 
■nan's  speech,  that  the  great  sin  of  this  country  will  be  hatred  of  \ 
the  saints,  a  scornful  contempt  of  Ibem.  It  will  come  by  degrees,  I 
first  distaste,  and  then  censure  and  contemn.  10,  but  if  hereinj 
you  submit,  herein  Christ  is  honored,  and  gospel  gloriJied,  in  love 
and  amiablenesa ;  not  in  a  rigorous  austerity  of  spirit,  and  dia- 
bolical c«asorioHsness,  but  in  word  and  deed,  countenance  and 
gesture,  comforting  and  encouraging  one  another. 

When  David  would  know  what  to  do,  "  Truly,"  saith  he,  "  my 
goodness  extends  not  to  thee ;  but  to  the  saints,  in  whom  is  ut 
my  delight."  O,  therefore  submit  here;  this  consctenoe  calls 
for,  and  Christ  must  have. 

To  conclude  with  a  word  for  help  here  :  — 
Meant  1.     Look  to  God's  ordinances,  not  as  they  be  in  ihem- 
•elves,  bat  as  appointed  of  God,  to  communicate  an  almighty 
power  of  spirit  to  ihcm  that  wail  on  the  Lord  in  them.     An  al- 
mighty power  must  overcome,  and   go  on   conquering  and  to 
conquer.     How  shall  we  have  this  by  God's  ordinances  ?    Some 
more  principal,  as  word  and  sncramenu ;  some  less.     How  shall 
we  partake  of  this  power  in  ihem  ?     Look  not  on  them  as  them- 
selvea,  bat  as  a|ipointcd  and  sanctiSed,  and  so  as  glorious.     And 
there  pray  and  wait,  and  look  for  the  power ;  nay,  believe  yon 
shall  receive  this  power.     As  the  waters  of  Jordan  to  Naaman, 
I  liow  did  Ihey  cleanse?    When  he  looked  upon  ihem  without  the 
[  ooramand  and  promise,  he  despised  them,  and  so  found  not  the 


I 


I 


benefit  of  them ;  but  afterwards  he  found  the  benefit  of  fhem,  when  | 
he  nashed  seTen  times  in  attendance  to  the  appointment  of  God.  f 
Brethren,  it  is  but  go  and  wash  here.    (I  Cor.  x.  5.) 

Meant  2.  Know  your  disobedience,  the  breadth  of  it.  Soma 
things  Christians  see,  and  pray  against  ihem,  and  then  all  is  well ; 
but  see  the  breadth  of  evil  in  your  disobedience.  There  b  somo' 
thing  that  doth  oppoee  God  in  every  lawful  thing,  in  whole  or  id 
pari,  (for  flesh  jn  in  it,)  or  else  you  are  blinded  if  you  see  it  not. 
O,  therefore,  feel  the  breadth  of  evil  in  It ;  that  being  sensible 
of,  and  humbled  under,  and  striving  against  your  continnal  dis- 
^  obedience,  every  thought  may  be  bniagbt  into  subjeclitMi  and 

obedienco  to  Christ.  ^H 

lJ 


INEFFECTUAL  HEARING  THE  WORD. 


TOL.  m. 


81 


861 


OP 


INEFFECTUAL  HEARING  THE  WORD, 


John  T.  37,  "  Te  htut  neither  heard  hia  Yoice  at  aoj  time,  nor  teen  hit 

eliape.'* 

From  the  Slst  verse  to  the  end  of  this  chapter^  our  Sa- 
vioar  proves  that  he  was  the  Messiah  to  come,  from  four  tes- 
timonies :  — 

1.  From  the  testimony  of  John,  the  first,  yet  the  least,  yet 
very  strong  and  full,  ver.  82,  33. 

2.  From  the  testimony  of  his  works,  greater  than  that  of 
John,  ver.  36. 

3.  From  the  testimony  of  the  Father,  by  his  voiee  from 
heaven,  ver.  37. 

4.  From  the  voice  of  the  Scriptures,  the  highest  of  all,  and 
surer  than  a  voice  from  heaven,  (2  Pet  L  19,)  ver.  39,  46. 

Now,  these  words  are  annexed  to  the  third  testimony,  which  I 
told  you  is  the  voice  of  God  from  heaven,  set  down.  (Matt.  iiL 
17.)  For  this  testimony  of  the  Father  is  not  the  inward  testi- 
mony of  the  Spirit  only,  because  Christ  speaks  of  public  and 
evident  testimonies  in  this  place,  nor  is  it  meant  of  the  testimony 
of  the  Father  in  the  Scripture,  for  that  is  a  distinct  testimony; 
and  though  the  Father  doth  testify  of  Christ  in  the  Scriptures, 
yet  it  is  not  as  his  testimony,  no  more  than  the  testimony  of 
John,  and  of  his  works,  whereby  the  Father  did  testify  also.  Nor 
is  it  probable  that  our  Saviour  woald  at  this  time  omit  that  fa- 
mous testimony  of  the  Father  at  his  baptism,  which,  if  it  be  noi 
here,  is  nowhere  in  thb  chapter.  Besides,  how  is  this  testimony 
the  Father's  more  than  the  Spirit's  ?  But  then,  being  called  his 
Son,  he  did  evidently  declare  himself  to  be  the  Father  that  spake. 
Lastly,  the  Spirit's  testimony  is  spoken  of  as  the  testimony  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets.  Ver.  46,  ^  For  had  ye  believed  Moses, 
ye  would  have  believed  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me.**    Ver.  47, 

363 


I 

I 


[ 


864  OF   INEFFECTUAL    HE1.RIXG   TBE   WORD. 

"  For  if  je  beliere  not  his  wrilings,  how  shall  ye  believe  my 

Now,  our  Saviour,  in  these  worda,  answers  an  objection  which 
the  Jews  (ever  cooceited  of  Iheir  own  knowleilge)  might  moke: 
Vt  know  Lhe  Father  us  well  aa  jon :  »nd  yet  we  know  no  such 
testimony  that  he  gives.  Christ  answers,  You  do  not  know  him  ; 
for  the  certnin  knowledge  of  a  thing  is  either  by  seeing  or  hear- 
iAg ;  now  jou  never  saw  bim  nor  heard  hioi ;  yoa  have  therefore 
no  acquaintance  with  him. 

So  that  the  words  contain,  I.  Christ's  fearful  aiicuantion  of  the 
Jews  to  be  ignorant  of  God.  2.  The  aggrovntion  qimI  extent  of 
it,  at  no  lime,  i.  e^  not  only  at  baptism,  but  at  no  other  time,  in 
any  ministry,  or  in  any  scriptnre,  etc. 

QtieMiim  1.     What  is  it  not  to  see  his  shape  nor  bear  hie  voice? 

AnOBer.  Some  think  they  are  laetaphoriciil  speeches,  to  ex- 
press their  ignorance  of  God.  Now,  though  this  be  the  scope 
and  the  general  truth,  yet  I  conceive  the  IJurd,  speaking  particu- 
krty,  and  knowing  what  he  spake,  intends  smnetbin);  psniealariy; 
and  it  is  a  rule  never  to  Hy  to  metaphors  where  there  can  be  a 
plain  sense  given.  Tliere  are  therefore  two  degrees  of  true 
knowledge  of  God  in  this  life,  (h-  it  is  attained  onto  by  a  double 
means :  — 

1.  liy  bearing  of  him,  for  hence  our  faith  comes  by  the  word- 

2.  By  hearing  tliua^from  him,  the  mind  also  comtrs  to  have  a 
Irue  idea  of  God,  as  lie  reveals  himself  in  the  woni  and  means  by 
(he  Spirit,  (Job  xlii.  5 :)  "  I  have  heard  of  tlice  by  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee ; "  and  this  is  lhe  shape 
here  spoken  of,  not  bodily  and  carnal.  Now,  Christ  dotli  profess 
that  they  did  want  both.  Carnal  nnd  onregenerale  hearts  neither 
hear  God'a  voice,  nor  have  a  right  idea  of  God  in  their  minds, 
but  become  vain  in  their  minds,  though  tliey  have  means  ot 
knowing,  and  their  foolish  hearts  are  darkened ;  the  wiser  they 
be  the  more  toolish  they  grow. 

3-  At  no  lime,  i.  e.,  neither  at  baptiim,  nor  else  in  any  mim'a 
ministry,  nor  in  any  of  the  scriptures  which  you  read,  and  where 
the  Lord  speaks. 

3.  But  did  they  not  hear  the  voice  of  God  at  Christ's  baptism, 
and  at  the  mount  when  Christ  preached,  when  the  Scriptures 
were  opened  every  Lord's  day,  and  at  other  times,  amongst  them  ? 

Ana.  No,  they  never  heard  it.  It  is  a  strange  thing  thai 
■neb  men  that  read,  heard,  preached,  remembered  the  Scri|>- 
tures,  and  could  tell  you  mysteries  in  titles,  never  heard  the 
TOice  of  God ;  and  yet  it  is  most  true. 

Obttrvatioii.     That  many-men  may  a  long  time  together  kntm 


(D.         3e&       f 


HEARI^ta   TUE    WORD. 

KDd  hear  Ihe  word  of  God  wrillen  and  npoken,  yet  never  bear 
the  Lord  sjteaking  itiaC  word,  no,  not  so  iDUcb  as  one  wtird,  title, 
or  Billable ;  no,  not  so  much  at  once,  nt  any  lime.  This  was  the 
eataic  of  tlie  Jgwh,  and  this  is  llic  estate  of  all  unregenerate  laen. 
Heoco  Christ  (Luke  xix.  41)  laments  and  weeps  over  Jerusa- 
lem, saying,  "  O  that  thou  hadat  known  in  tills  thy  day,"  elc^ 

Qvtit.  1.  How  did  the  Jews  hear,  and  yet  not  hear  God 
speaking  ? 

Ant.  There  is  a  twofold  word,  or  raiher  a  douhJe  decta- 
rulion  of  the  same  word.  I.  There  is  God's  external  or  outward  ~ 
word,  containing  |pitci»  nm)  ayiiai.inj^  ^nd  this  is  Lia  external 
voiee.  2.  Tliere  is  God's  internal  word  and  voice,  wliich  secretly 
speaks  to  the  heart,  pvi-n  hy  rhp  PKii-nml  ynnl,  when  that  only 
■peaks  to  the  ear.  /  TKe^rst  the  Jews  did  licar  nt  Christ's  bap- 
tism, in  Christ's  ministry,  and  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
wtien  they  did  hear  it,  it  waa  God's  word  they  heard,  full  of 
glory,  and  so  they  heard  the  word  spoken,  but  ouly  man  speaking 
it ;  the  other  comes  to  few,  who  hear  not  only  the  word  spoken, 
hut  God  speaking  the  word.  (Rom,  x.  18,  li).)  Israel  did  bear, 
hut  Israel  did  not  know.  Christ  speaks  in  parables;  hence  in 
Beeinj;  ihey  did  not  see.  (Luke  viii.  10.)  And  this  is  one  way 
how  it  is  true  that  Christ  says,  ■*  they  never  heard  hjfa  voice." 
As  it  is  with  a  painted  sun  on  the  wall,  you  see  the  sun  and  stars, 
but  there  is  a  difFerence  between  seeing  this  and  the  sun  and 
Stan  themselves,  wherein  is  an  admirable  glory :  go  to  a  {wnled 
■un,  it  gives  you    no   heat,  nor  cherisheth  you   not;  so   it  ia 

i.  This  inward  word  is  double.  1.  Ineffectual,  (though  in- 
ward.) 2.  Efl'eeiual.  1.  Incflbctual  is  that  which  bath  some 
inward  operation  u|nn  the  heart,  but  it  alinins  not  God's  end  to 
bring  u  man  into  a  state  of  life ;  and  thus,  ( Heb.  ri.  2, 5,)  "  Many 
lasted  of  Ihe  good  word  of  God,  yet  fell  away."  And  sucli  a 
iiearl  is  compared  to  a  held  which  a  man  plows  and  sows,  and 
rain  falls  on  it,  and  yet  the  end  is  not  attained :  il  bi^ng«  forth 
thistles ;  and  this  many  Jews  did  hear,  and  hence  had  some  kind 
of  faith  in  ChriaL  2.  Effectual  is  ^lat  which  hath  such  an  in- 
ward oUicacy  upon  men's  hearts  as  that  God  attains  his  end 
tlicreby,  (I*  Iv.  1 1,)  and  brings  men  to  a  slate  of  life,  of  which 
Christ  speaks,  (John  vi.  45 ;)  and  this  voice  none  but  the  elect 
bear ;  and  of  (his  Christ  speaks  here,  as  appears  ver.  8S :  "  Him 
whom  he  scot  ye  believe  not"  Hence  it  is  you  have  heard  Grod 
at  no  time.  Hence  he  speaks  of  such  a  hearing  and  knowing, 
such  a  bearing  outwardly,  as  is  accompanied  wilb  such  a  hearing 
hiwordly,  (John  xiv.  17 ;}  so  that  many  men  may  hear  the  word 


I 


1 


L 


31' 


I 


S6fi  OP   nJEFFECTl'AL   HKAHISG   THE    WOKD, 

spoken  oulwardly,  but  never  inwHrdly;  ihey  mRy  hear  it  ii»^  I 
WBrdly.  but  nevtr  effectually,  translating  ihem  from  stnle  tasiata,  I 
from  death  lo  life,  from  life  lo  life  and  glory ;  no  seme  of  thfli  I 
majesty  of  God  speaking,  nor  effectual  Learing  of  the  woi^J 
spokt'D.  Wlien  the  sun  is  down,  the  moon  may  arise ;  but  yet  ^ 
man  i»  eold  and  dark ;  but  when  tlie  sun  ariseth,  O,  it  wannai;,] 
tiourishelh,  and  cherisheth,  elc.  i  noibjng  is  hid  from  it: 
is  here,  when  tlie  Lord  speaks  inwardly  and  effectually  to  the 
heart. 

Rrasan  I.  From  ihat  great  distance  and  inliDite  separation 
of  men's  souls  from  God,  that  though  God  calls,  yet  they  can  not 
hear  no  more  than  men  a  thousand  miles  off.  "  Men  are  dead  in 
Bin."  (Eph.  ii.  1.)  Kow,  what  is  spiritual  denih  but  separation 
of  the  soul  from  God  and  God  from  it?  A  dend  man  can  not 
hear  one  word  at  no  one  lime ;  ho  was  not  dead  if  he  could. 
Men's  minds  are  far  from  God,  and  hearts  also,  that  they  are 
neither  stricken  with  the  sight  of  his  glory,  uor  sense  and  saror 
of  his  goodncs!i,  but  must  be  vain,  and  have  worldly  hearts  in  the 
church,  nay,  adulterous  eyes,  or  if  they  lisien,  God  is  gone  from, 
them,  and  fVom  his  word  also.  (Hos.  v.  6.)  J 

Reaion  2.     From  the  mighty  and  wonderful  strange  power  otM 
Satan,  which  blinds  their  eyes,  ihey  ran  not  see  nor  hear,  (2  Cona 
IT.  4,)  never  such  clear  light,  never  such  an  effectual  word,  m~ 
that  of  the  apostles,  yet  it  was  hid;  why?     The  God  of  I 
world  blinded  them  ;  either  he  will  keep  such  a  noise  and  lumbc 
ID  their  heads  that  they  can  noi  hear  God  speaking  for  the  nois^^ 
or  else  turn  himself  into  an  angel  of  light,  and  speak,  and  by  their 
light  will  blind  them,  that  the  light  in  them  shall  be  darkness. 
(Bom.  i.  22.)     When  men  willi  natural  light  began  to  be  most 
wise,  then  ihey  became  the  greatest  fools ;   so  il  is  with  other 
knowledge  of  Scripture,  and  things  they  bear.     Happy  were  it 
for  many  a  man  if  he  had  never  heard  nor  seen  ;  for  that  which 
he  hath  heard  and  seen  keeps  him  from  hearing.     Tyre  and 
Sidon  would  hear  sooner  than  Capcninum  that  heard  most, 

Jteaton  3.  From  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  in  leaving 
men  to  be  blinded  and  made  deaf,  from  and  by  the  means  where- 
by they  should  hear  and  know  ;  ihat  as  it  is  with  the  saints,  all 
^vil  things  are  for  their  good,  so  all  good  things  are  for  their  hurt^ 
(la.  vi.  10;)  the  meriting  cause  is  unbelief  and  sin,  bat  the  dec 
and  hidden  rise  of  all  is  God's  eternal  dereliction  of  them./  ' 
never  intended  Ipve,  sgedal  love  to  them ;  hence  he  never  ap 
one  word  to  ih'einr  2(5>rr  iv.  5T  John  vi,  65,  "  Many  i 
oflended  at  his  words,  and  forsook  him."  Now,  lo  take  off  ttd 
offense,  I  said,  "  None  can  come  to  me.  except  it  be  given  him  O 
the  Father."     What  is  that  ?    See  vcr.  io  and  37. 


;al  hearing  the  n-ORD. 


367 


Uu  1.  Hence  see  the  reason  why  the  word'is  so  wonderfully ' 
incSecluftl  to  Ilie  bouIs  of  monj  men,  lliul  it  oever  Etirs  lliem, 
that  it  UastrADge  thing  to  ihem.  It  is  (Hcb.  xii.  IK)  like  the 
law,  a  voice  of  worda.  a  «ou(]il  of  wonle ;  bo  lUey  bear  men  apeak, 
bui  understand  no  more  iKaiDf  iliBji  fpeak  in  a  strange  language ; 
or  if  they  do,  it  cuneerns  not  ibem ;  or  if  it  «lirs,  it  b  but  as  the 
blowing  of  the  nind  ujmn  a  rock,  wbich  blusters  for  a  time,  but 
when  the  wind  is  down  they  are  still.  Truly  they  hear  the  word 
spoken,  hut  lliey  do  not  hear  God  speaking.  They  beard  Lati- 
mer spenk,  but  not  God  speaking ;  tbey  hear  a  sound,  whii-U 
every  one  guys,  and  they  think,  is  the  word,  but  they  hear  not 
God  speaking  it. 

One  would  wonder  that  those  Jews  that  heard  John  nnil  his 
diseiptes,  Moses  and  the  prophets,  nay,  God's  voice  from  heaven, 
saying,  "This  is  my  Son,"  tliat  they  should  not  hear  this,  and  re- 
ceive him  wilb  hU  their  hearts,  but  they  did  not  hear  his  voiee. 
One  would  wonder  to  see,  that  such  things  whieh  a  gracious  heart 
thinks,  this  wonld  draw  every  heart,  yet  remain  not  stirred; 
tilings  which  the  deviln  tremble  at,  and  others  which  angils  won- 
der at,  yel  ihey  hear  not.  O,  they  hear  not  Goil  speak,  they  are 
deud  in  their  graves,  far  from  God ;  and  there  they  are  kept  by 
the  mighty  power  of  Satan,  like  one  in  n  deep,  dark  cave,  kepi  by 
fiery  dmgons  under  the  ground,  and  the  tombstone  is  laid  upon 
them.  If  Christ  »pake,  be  would  make  the  dead  to  bear,  and 
ibe  blind  to  see. 

Uu  2.  Hence  see  why  the  saints  find  such  changes  and 
Blt«raiians  in  themselves  when  they  come  to  hear;  sometimes 
their  hearts  are  quickene^l,  fed  and  cherished,  healed  and  com- 
forted, relieved  and  visited :  sometimes  again  dead  and  senseless, 
heavy  and  hardened.  Mark  viii.  17,  18,  21,  "  How  is  it  ye  du 
not  understand  ? "  Nay,  which  is  more,  that  the  Siune  truth 
which  ihey  bear  at  one  time  should  aflcct  thera,  and  at  another 
time  doth  not ;  the  same  thing  which  they  have  heanl  a  hundred 
times,  and  never  stirred  tliem,  at  last  should.  Tlie  reason  is, 
ibey  henrd  the  word  of  God  spoken  at  one  time,  but  not  God 
speaking ;  and  they  beard  the  Lord  speaking  that  same  word  at 
another  lime;  the  Lord  is  in  bis  word  at  one  lime,  ilte  wonl 
goes  alone  at  another  time ;  as  in  Etijali,  the  Lord  was  nut  in  the 
wbirlwiml,  but  be  spake  in  the  still  voice,  and  hence  there  he  was 
to  Elijah.  (Luke  xsiv.  25,  with  32.)  Not  that  you  are  to 
tay  blame  on  the  Lord ;  for  he  blows  where  be  lisieih ;  but  to 
make  us  see  il  is  not  in  outward  means  nor  it  is  nut  in  our  own 
spirits  (o  quicken  ourselves,  and  to  make  us  ashamed  of  our  own 
darkness,  that  when  be  speaks  yet  we  can  not  hear,  there  is  ■o'' 


L 


p 
I 


SG8  OF   INKFFECTUAL   HEARINO   TDK   WORD. 

mueli  power  of  spirilual  ili-alli  nnJ  Sntan  yet  within  u»,  only  out 
of  hid  ])tly  he  siieaks  somelimes.  Not  that  you  ^hotild  despise 
t)ie  outward  viord ;  no,  no ;  the  Lord  is  there  shining  in  peHec- 
lion  of  glory,  and  that  which  doth  thee  no  good,  the  Lord  niakea 
powerTuI  to  some  others.  But  pt^ze  the  Spirit  of  God  in  that 
word,  which  alone  can  speak  lo  ihev. 

Uu  3.  Of  dread  and  terror  to  all  unregencrate  men.  Hence 
»ee  the  heavy  wrath  of  God  against  theni :  tiiej  have  indeed  ihe 
Scriptures,  and  the  precious  word  of  God  dis|>en?ed  lo  tlicot  ;  but 
the  Lord  never  speaks  one  word  unto  them.  If  any  one,  from 
whom  we  expect  and  look  for  love,  pnsB  by  us  and  never  speak; 
what,  not  speak  a  word  ?  and  we  call  to  him  and  he  will  not  speak, 
we  conclude  he  is  angry  and  displeased  with  us.  You  look  for 
love,  do  you  not?  You  that  hear  every  Sabbath,  and  come  to 
lectures,  and  you  must  out ;  it  is  well.  Yes,  you  will  say,  bia 
love  ia  belter  than  life,  and  frowns  more  bitter  than  dmth. 
Love?  Woe  to  me  if  the  Lord  do  not  love  me;  belter  never* 
been  bom.  I  hope  he  loves  me.  Happy  I.  if  the  mounlaiiis 
might  fall  on  me,  to  crush  roe  in  pieces,  if  he  loves  me  not,  etc 
But  consider,  if  he  loves,  he  will  then  speak  peace  unspeakable 
to  tlty  conscience  when  humbled,  life  to  thy  heart,  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  (Is.  Ivii.  19.  John  vi.  63.  1  Theas.  i.  G.)  But  took 
upon  thy  soul,  and  see  this  day  in  llie  sight  of  God,  whether  ever 
the  Lonl  spake  one  word  to  thee:  outwardly  indeed  he  Iialh.but 
not  inwardly ;  inwardly  also,  but  not  effectually,  "  to  turn  them 
from  darkness  to  ligbl,  and  the  power  of  Satan  to  God,"  etc. 
The  voice  of  Gud  is  full  of  tnnjesty,  it  shakes  the  heart ;  it  is 
full  of  life,  it  quickens  the  dead,  and  light,  and  [wace,  and  gives 
wisdom  to  the  simple.  Ps.  cxix.,  "  Opening  of  thy  word  gives 
light  to  the  eyes."  How  many  women,  ever  learning  and  ne\er 
knowing,  and  many  men  learning  and  knowing,  what  is  said,  bat 
never  bejir  God  speak !  Then  know  the  wrath  of  the  Lord,  flee 
and  go  home  mourning  under  it.  There  is  a  fourfold  wrath  in 
this:  — 
U  1/It  is  Ihe  Lord's  sore  wrath  and  displeasure./ (Zeeb.  i.  2, 
^  with  ver.  4.)  If  one  should  expect  love  from  another  to  do 
much  for  him,  and  he  did  not,  it  may  he  he  would  not  take  it  as 
a  sign  of  displeasure;  but  if  he  will  not  do  a  small  thing,  not 
epi^ak  a  wold  to  him,  O,  this  is  bitter.  Wlial,  will  not  tlie  Lord 
speak  a  word,  not  one  word,  es|)eeially  when  iLy  life  lies  on  it, 
thy  soul  lies  on  ii,  eternity  lies  on  it,  especially  the  Lord  that  ia 
o  merciful  and  pitiful  ?  This  is  a  sign  of  sore  anger. 
ijlt  in  B.  token  of  God's  old  displeasure,  eternal  displeasure 
1 1  know  you  can  not  hear ;  hence,  though  God  speaks,  you  hoar 


OF   INEFFECTUAL   nEARtXG  TnE   WORD.  3G9 

tiim  not.  But  wliy  ilolh  not  the  I^ord  retnofe  that  deafness  ? 
You  old  henrers,  that  have  ears  Inl  with  hearing,  but  heavy,  h»  ■ 
never  intended  love,  else  h«  would  spi^ak  j  there  would  be  some  . 
time  of  love. /Bom.  xi.  7,8,  "Tlie elect  Lave  bad  it;  others  arc  I 
blinded,  as  it  is  written,  Qod  hath  given  ihem  the  spirit  of  slum-  ' 
ber,  ejres  that  they  should  not  see,  and  ears  ibat  they  should  not 
hear,  to  this  daj." 

3.  It  is  the  Lord's  present  displeasure.  When  a  man  looks 
fur  love  and  speech,  and  he  doth  not  speak  nl  those  limes  he  ia 
not  wont  to  speak,  one  may  take  it  as  no  sign  of  anger  ;  but  when 
the  Lord  shall  speak  usually,  and  then  he  speaks  not,  this  is  » 
sad  sign.  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  6,  15.)  He  cries  out  of  this,  "  He  an- 
swers tne  not  by  Urim  nor  dreams,"  nor  theo  by  the  gospel  nor 
law,  neither  where  be  useth  to  answer.  If  this  anger  were  to 
come,  it  were  some  eomfort;  but  when  it  is  now  npon  thee,  c-Ten 
that  very  senqon  and  word  whereby  he  speaks  to  others,  but  not 
ft  word  to  thee. 

4.  It  is  bis  insensible  anger.  For  a  fat  heart  and  a  heavy  ear 
ever  go  together ;  for  you  will  say,  Ifeel  oo  hurt  in  this;  I  have 
heard  and  been  never  the  belter,  but  yet  that  hath  made  me  never 
ihe  worse.  O,  poor  creature  !  It  is  because  you  feel  it  not ;  but 
when  the  lime  of  misery  shall  come,  you  will  say,  Thb  is  woe  and 
load  enough,  for  theJJord  to  give  no  answer.  Ps.  Ixxi.  9,  "We 
see  not  our  prophets,  nor  any  to  tell  us  how  long;  "  so  you  that 
despise  means,  you  shall  then  lament  and  say.  None  can  tell  how 
long.  0,  therefore,  lament  ihla  thy  condition  now,  that  the  Lord 
may  hear  some  of  your  cries,  etc. 

Cw  4.  Hence  examine  whether  ever  you  heard  the  Lord's 
voice  or  no ;  not  only  outwardly,  (for  that  you  know  you  have 
of^cn  done,)  but  inwardly  ;  and  not  only  so,  for  so  ye  may  do.  and 
yet  your  ears  heavy ;  but  effectually,  that  if  it  be  not  so,  you  may 
be  bumble  and  say.  Lord,  how  have  I  spent  my  time  in  vain  I 
And  if  it  be  so,  you  may  be  thankful,  and  say.  Lord,  what  lun  I, 
that  the  infinite  God  should  apeak  to  me  ? 

There  ia  great  need  of  trial  of  this,  for  a  man  may  read,  hear, 
and  understand,  eslernally.  whatever  another  may  ;  and  yet  the 
whole  Scripture  a  sealed  book. 

There  are  therefore  these  three  degrees,  by  which  you  shall 
discern  the  effectual  voice  of  God:  you  must  take  them  jointly. 

1.  The  voice  of  God  singles  a  man  out,  and  (though  it  be 
generally  written  or  spoken)  speaks  particularly  to  the  very  heart 
uf  a  man,  with  a  nmrvelous  kind  ot'  majesty  and  glory  of  God 
etam[ied  upon  it  and  shining  in  it. 

When  a  man   hears  ildnga  generally  delivered,  the  blessed 


I 


370  OF  ISEFFECTUAL   nElARINO   THE   WORD. 

estate  of  the  saints,  tlie  cursed  estale  of  the  wicked.  conBolatiooS  ] 
to  the  one,  curses  to  the  other,  exhorlatioaa  to  faith  and  obedi- 
ence to  both,  and  a  mttn  sits  by,  and  never  thinks,  The  Lord  ia 
now  speaking,  and  means  me,  or,  if  it  doth  so,  yet  thinks  he  in- 
tends me  no  more  than  others,  he  hears  not  the  Lord  speaking; 
for  when  he  speaks,  he  speaks  particularly  to  the  very  heart  of  « 
man :  he  doth  so  tit  the  word  to  him,  wliather  it  be  the  word  of    i 
the  law  to  humble  him,  or  of  gospel  to  comfort,  or  of  command  (a   j 
guide,  as  if  the  Lord  meant  none  but  thent. 
II      The  word  ia  liljg_nn  exact  picture;  it  looks  every  man 

II  the  face  tHaT  looks  on  Tt,  ifGodspeaFs  in  it.  J  Ileb.  iv.  12,  13,  J 
"It  searcheth  the  heart,"  ver.  12;   but  ver.  13  he  speaks  of    f 
God ;   how  comes  that  in  ?    Because  God,  the  majesty  of  God, 
comes  with  it  when  God  speaks  it.     "  With  whom  we  have  to 

nfo  i  "   why  is  that  put  in  ?     Bccauseywhen  the  Lord  speaks,  • 
man  thinks.  Now  I  have  to  do  with  God ;  if  I  resist,  I  oppose  a  | 
God.     Before  this,  a  man  thinks  he  hath  nothing  to  do  with  1 
God,  they  are  such  strangers.     Ueoce  it  is  one  man  is  wrought 
on  in  a  sermon,  another  not     God  hath  singled  out  one,  not  the 

I  other,  that  day.  j    Hence  take  a  man  unhumblcd ;  he  hears  many 

Wbings,  and  it  may  bo  understands  not ;  if  so,  yet  they  concern 
not  him  ;  if  they  do,  and  conscience  is  stirred,  yet  they  think  man 
means  them,  and  speaks  by  hap,  and  others  are  as  bad  as  they, 
and  his  trouble  is  not  much.  At  last  he  hears  his  secret  thoughts 
and  sins  discovered,  all  his  life  is  made  known,  and  thinks  it  ia 
the  Lord  venly  that  halh  done  this;  now  God  speaks  (I  Cor. 
xiv.  25)  those  things  he  did  neither  believe  nor  imagine,  etc 
John  iv.  29,  "  See  the  man  that  hath  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did." 
Hence  take  a  soul  that  is  humbled ;  he  hears  of  the  free  offer  of 
grace,  he  refuseth  it :  Why,  this  is  to  all,  and  to  hypocrites  as  well 
as  to  me.  Apply  any  promise  to  it,  it  casts  by  all,  it  looks  upon 
them  as  things  generally  spoken,  and  applied  by  man,  but  they 
hear  not  God  speaking;  but  when  the  Lord  comes,  he  doth  oo 
meet  with  their  objections,  and  speaks  what  they  have  beea 
thinking  may  be  true,  that  tbcy  think.  This  is  the  Lord,  Ibis  it 
me.  Hosca  ii.  14,  "  I  will  speak  to  her  heart ; "  and  hence  i 
called  "the  ingrafted  word,"  (James  i.  21 ;)  like  one  branch  of  J 
many,  applied  to  the  slock.   (Job  Kxxiii.  14, 16.)  J 

2.  The  voice  of  the  Lord  ilotb  not  only  speak  particularly,  but  i 
it  goes  further;  it  comes  not  only  with  an  almighty  power,  but  i 
with  a  certain  everlasting  efficacy  and  power  on  the  soul.  Thai  I 
it  is  here,  (ver.  38.)  "  Ye  have  not  his  word  in  you  ; "  they  had  it>| 
out  of  them ;  and  not  only  in  you,  but  abiding  in  you.  1  Pet,  L 1 
its,  "  Bom  of  incorruptible  seed."     The  apostle  seems  toe 


of  a  kind  of  birth  by  corrupLible  seed,  and  such  are  like  goodlj 
flowers,  which  soon  wither;  but  you  are  born  of  incorruptible 
seed,  which  hath  an  eternal  aavor,  sweetnese,  and  power.  (MalU 
xiii)  Of  the  four  grounds  three  of  ihum  fall  away.  (John  xt. 
16.)  Their  fruit  does  not  remain;  tbey  have  Bome  living  af- 
fection at  the  present,  but  they  go  away,  and  it  die^.  Look  but 
upon  particulars,  doth  the  Lord  once  gpeok  by  the  word,  and 
humble  the  heart  ?  it  never  lifts  up  its  head  more.  Doth  lie  re- 
veal the  glory  of  Cbriet?  that  light  never  goes  out  more.  (Is. 
Ix.  19.  2  Cor.  iv.  4,  5.)  As  at  the  first  creation  there  was  tight, 
nnd  BO  continues  to  this  day,  so  doth  he  give  life.  (John  xi.  26.) 
You  shall  never  die  more.  Doth  he  give  peace  and  joy?  no 
man  shall  take  their  joy  from  them.  Is.  xxxii.  17,  "  Fruit  of 
righteousness  and  peace,  and  assurance  forever."  Doth  he  give 
the  spirit  of  all  these,  which  (Gal.  iii.)  comes  by  hearing  of  faith  ? 
it  shall  abide  forever.    (John  xiv.  17.) 

That  look,  as  God's  love  is  eTerlaaling,  so  his  words  have 
an  everlasting  excellency  and  efficacy  in  them,  and  goodness  in 
them,  the  sweeteet  token  of  his  love ;  and  as  Chrisl's  purchase  is 
only  of  eternal  good  things,  so  the  application  of  this  purchase 
by  the  word,  it  is  of  etemd  worth :  peace,  but  peace  eternal,  life, 
light,  favor,  joy,  but  joy  eternal;  like  mustard  seed,  though  very 
little,  yet  mighty  in  increase,  and  never  subdued  agfun ;  so  that 
though  it  be  but  little,  yet  it  is  eternal :  and  hence  observe,  where 
God  halh  spoken  efieciually,  the  longer  the  man  lives,  the  more 
be  grows  in  the  virtue  and  power  of  the  word;  another,  though 
wonderfully  ravished  for  a  time,  yet  diea,  most  commonly  out- 
wardly in  external  profession,  but  ever  in  inward  savor;  so 
that  when  you  bear  the  word,  and  it  moves  yon,  afiects  you, 
and  "John  is  a  burning  light,  and  yon  rejoice  therein,  but  it 
is  but  for  a  senson."  The  evil  spirit  comes  on  you,  and  David 
plays  upon  hia  harp,  and  minisiers  preach  sweet  things,  but 
as  soon  as  the  music  is  done,  the  evil  spirit  returns,  I  say  you 
never  heard  the  Lord's  voice.  The  peace  and  joy  of  the  I>ord 
enters  into  eternity,  and  the  apostle  expressly  calls  him  an  un- 
fruitful hearer,  (James  i.  H,)  "that  sees  his  face  and  foi^els 
himself."  A  gracious  heart  can  say,  Thb  peace  shall  go  to  heav- 
en ;  and  joy,  and  love,  and  fear,  it  is  part  of  eternal  glory. 

3.  The  voice  of  the  Lord  comes  not  only  thus  particuhu'ly,  and 
with  eternal  efficacy,  but  with  such  ei&cacy  as  carries  unto,  and 
centere  in  Christ ;  so  it  is  here :  "  For  him  whom  God  hath  sent 
you  believe  not."  (John  vi.  41.)  "  They  shall  be  taught  of  God." 
Wherein  doth  that  appear?  "  They  sliali  hear  and  learn  so  as  to 
Gomo  to  me."    If  the  law  humbles  them,  it  is  euch  a  humbling  aa 


L 


EASING   THE   WORD. 


drives  tfaem  unto  Cbri^it,  poor  anil  undone.  (Rom.  x.  i.)  If  the 
word  ^ves  peace  to  ihem,  it  is  euch  a  peace  which  at  the  Iftst 
they  find  in  Christ.  (EpL.  ii.  17,  18.  with  14.)  If  il  Uve  holily, 
it  lives  anio  Christ,  not  merely  as  to  God,  and  to  quiet  consdence, 
UDto  a  Creator,  ua  Adam,  but  for  Chriafa  eake.  2  Cor.  v.  1 4,  15, 
"  We  judge  that  if  we  were  dead,  aod  Christ  died  for  us,  we 
should  then  live  unto  him."  If  they  grow  up  \ij  the  word,  it  is 
in  ChrisL  (Eph.  iv.  14.)  Though  Christ  be  not  mentioDed,  yet 
it  b  strange  to  see,  let  the  word  speak  what  it  will,  whether 
terror;  0,  my  need  of  Christ !  mercy  and  grace ;  0,  the  love  of 
Christ !  O,  the  blood  of  Christ !  command ;  O,  that  I  may  live 
Id  honor  Christ,  and  wrong  him  no  morel  duties;  O,  the  easy 
yoke  of  Christ!  They  look  upon  the  whole  word  rightly  dis- 
pensed OS  the  Bridegroom's  voice,  and  truly  his  words  are  sweet. 
For  a  man  may  have  some  such  fear,  reformation,  aSection,  as 
may  continue,  but  never  carry  him  out  of  himself  uato  Christ. 
The  Pharisees  knew  the  law,  were  very  exact,  even  till  their 
death,  profited  as  Paul  said  he  did ;  yet  they  had  not  the  word 
abiding  in  Ihem,  because  not  driven  out  of  themselves  to  Christi 
to  rest  there. 

Hence  when  men  shall  hear  many  things,  but  to  what  end  do 
you  hear,  or  what  virtue  have  the  things  you  hear?  Do  iBey 
only  please  fancy  for  a  lime?  or  do  you  hear  to  increase  your 
knowledge  and  parts  P  or  do  you  hear  for  custom  and  eoropany, 
and  to  quiet  conscience  i  or  are  you  affected  and  sunk,  but  not 
driven  by  all  to  lay  thy  head  on  Christ?  the  Lord  never  spake 
yet  to  thee ;  when  the  word  hath  laid  you  on  this  foundation, 

.truly  its  office  is  done  and  ended,  God's  end  is  now  attained,  etc. 

'  O,  try  yourselves  here ;  have  you  heard,  but  never  heard  tbo 
voice  of  the  Lord,  rushing  upon  thee  with  majesty,  speaking  to 
thy  heart,  and  the  very  secrets  of  it,  but  have  said,  This  is  for 
others,  and  when  you  have  thought  the  man  bath  spoken  to  you, 
your  hearts  have  then  swollen  against  him  ?  Or  have  you  thus 
heard,  but  all  dies  and  withers  like  Itowers,  the  same  heart  slill  ? 
Or  have  you  had  some  powerful  stroke  which  remains,  but  it 
fbrceth  you  not  out  of  yourselves  to  Christ,  there  to  rest,  there  to 
joy,  there  to  live,  there  lo  die  ?  truly  your  time  hath  been  spent  in 
vain ;  you  never  yet  beard  the  Lord  speak.  O,  mourn  for  it; 
thou  art  still  in  tliy  blood,  if  he  never  said.  Live ;  in  thy  bondage, 
if  the  Lord  never  said,  Come  forth.  This  is  the  condition  of 
many,  to  be  lamented  with  tears.  But  if  tliou  hast  thus  heard 
particularly,  and  though  but  little  light,  life,  and  peace,  yet  it  ie 
of  eternal  etiicacy,  and  all  to  draw  thee  to  Christ ;  then  bles«  the 
Lord:  "for  blessed  ore  your  ears  that  hear;"  and  I  e».j  a* 


OF   rVEFPECTCAL   IIKAHISG   TIIE   WORD.  373 

Moses  saiJ,  (Deul.  iv,  32,)  "Ask,  if  ever  people  beard  God 
■pellking  and  live."  The  HjKislte  (Heb.  xii.  24)  makes  it  a 
greater  matter  lo  come  lo  hear  God  on  Mount  Sion,  and  yet 
live.     Blessed  be  God,  I  live. 

Objection.  Bui  may  not  many  of  the  saints  hear,  and  hear  the 
Lonl  speak,  but  not  feel  ihis  everlasting  power  and  et&cacy  ? 

AntiOfr.  I  would  not  lay  a  foundation  of  unlliankfulnesa, 
nor  discourage  any ;  and  therefore  note  for  answer  llieee  par- 
ticulars :  — 

1.  There  may  be  an  cieroal  efficacy  of  the  word,  and  yet  lie 
hid,  and  not  felt  for  a  lime.  The  word  is  compared,  you  knowH 
to  seed,  and  that  in  this  respect;  the  seed  it  is  cast  under  the' 
clod  in  (he  winter  lime,  and  it  bath  a  virtue  in  it  to  grow  j  but  it 
is  hid,  and  comes  not  (o  blade  of  a  gootl  while  ;  and  when  it  doth 
blade,  yet  it  bears  not  fruit  of  a  long  time.  So  here,  the  Lord 
may  cast  tlie  seed  of  his  word  into  the  heart ;  but  it  is  hidden  fur 
a  time,  it  is  not  felt  as  yet,  but  there  it  is ;  a  word  of  threatening,  i 
a  word  of  promise,  a  word  of  command.  A  man  may  cast  it  byj  J 
and  gay,  It  belongs  not  to  me  i  a  man  may  slight  the  command  (m 
a  lime :  yet,  notwithstanding,  the  Lord  Laving  cast  his  seed  into 
the  heart,  it  shall  spring  up.  As  many  a  child,  the  father  speaks 
to  it,  and  applies  the  word  home  to  it,  when  it  is  of  some 
years ;  the  child  regards  it  not :  but  now  stay  some  time,  till  the 
Lord  do  bring  it  into  some  sod  affliction  ;  now  a  man  begins  lo 
think,  I  remember  what  my  father  spake  to  me  once,  and  I  re- 
garded it  not  then.  Now,  this  seed  which  was  cast  when  the 
diild  was  young,  it  shall  spring  up  twenty  years  after.  John  li. 
23,  Christ  had  said,  he  would  "  deetroy  the  temple,  and  raise  it 
again  in  three  days."  Now,  "  when  he  was  risen  from  the  dead, 
his  dbciples  remembered  that  which  he  had  spoken  to  them," 
but  they  regarded  it  not  before.  "Tlicse  things,"  saith  Christ, 
"have  I  spoken  la  you  while  I  was  with  you  ;  but  when  the 
Comforter  is  come,  he  sliall  bring  all  ihese  words  to  your  remem- 
brance that  I  have  said  unto  you."  One  sentence  it  may  be  that 
bath  discovered  a  man's  sin,  it  lies  hid ;  but  when  the  time  of 
ripening  draws  near,  you  shall  see  tlie  word  will  have  marvelous 
increase  ;  and  that  sin,  it  may  be,  wit]  bring  to  mind  twenty  eina  i 
and  that  promise  of  God  which  gives  but  a  little  consolation,  oon- 
udered  in  itself,  it  shall  give  marvelous  consolation.  One  would 
wonder  lo  see  what  one  word  will  do,  when  the  Lord's  time  of 
blei>sing  it  is  come. 

2.  Afler  that  a  Christian  bath  hai]  the  feelin^of  the  efficacy 
of  the  word,  be  may  lose  the  feeling  of  it  again,  and  yet  the  being 
«f  it  may  remain ;  and  the  reason  is  this,  partly  because  then  ia 


8(4  OF   IS-EFFECTUAI,    HEARING   TIIK   WORD. 

Dot  always  need  of  feeling  the  like  efficacy  in  the  word.     A  n 
may  have  hj  the  vonl  a  marTeloua  deal  of  assurance  of  God'u 
love,  and  sense  of  mercy  and  joy  in  llie  Holy  Ghost;  he  may^ 


ethisi 


L  the  fi 


ing  of  it.     This  word,  it  did  lie  bid  for  a  time  i 


aflervard  it  springs  up  and  gives  him  peace.  But  he  loses  his 
peace  again,  bis  sun  dolh  set,  and  it  is  m^night  with  him  within 
twenly-foor  hours,  and  he  is  as  inucb  in  the  dark  as  before.  Now, 
the  being  of  this  peace  is  there,  but  be  hath  no  need  of  the  feeling 
of  it  at  all  times ;  the  Lord  he  will  reserve  lliat  till  fatae  time  of 
temptation,  that  he  shall  meet  withal.  As  Paul,  he  had  mar- 
velous revelations ;  but  Paul  had  more  need  of  humiliation  than 
exaltation ;  and  there  was  not  that  ase  of  Paul's  having  those 
glorious  manifestations  to  bim ;  "  I  will  glory  in  my  infirmities." 
There  was  need  for  Paul  lo  know  the  evils  of  his  he-art,  that  he 
might  walk  humbly ;  and  it  did  not  make  so  much  for  the  gloij 
of  the  Lord,  as  this  that  Paul  should  say,  I  have  this  misery,  bi)4  J 
darkness,  and  sins,  and  yet  Jesus  Christ  he  will  take  away  alUfl 
There  was  not  need  for  Paul  to  have  those  joys  at  all  times,  th>l  W 
be  had  at  one  time.  Ho  the  Lord  he  gives  a  Christian  joy  and  " 
peace,  now  there  is  no  need  for  a  Christian  to  have  it  always. 
"  I  will  pour  floods  of  water  on  dry  ground."  Beloved,  if  there 
should  be  nothing  but  rain,  rain  every  day  and  night,  the  ground 
would  be  glutted  with  rain,  and  so  turned  into  a  puddle ;  but 
when  the  land  is  dry  and  thirsty,  now  the  ground  hath  need  of 
rain.  Let  the  earth  make  use  of  that  rain  it  hath ;  and  when  it 
is  dry  and  thirsty,  I  will  give  more,  saitb  the  Lord.  So  the  Lord 
Jie  gives  the  soul  joy  and  peace.  Now,  if  it  should  continue,  the 
very  peace  and  joy  of  God  would  not  be  pleasant  to  the  soul  j  or, 
at,  least,  not  so  pleasant  as  it  will  be,  when  the  Lonl  lakes  it 
PSway,  and  gives  it  the  soul  again.  /  A  Christian  conies  to  the 
'  meeting  house,  and  the  Lord  iiUs  the  a:uls  of  a  poor  soul,  that  he 
wonders  the  Lord  should  meet  him,  and  speak  so  suitably  lo  hira. 
But  as  soon  as  he  is  gone  out  again,  this  is  the  complaint  of  the 
soul,  all  is  lost  again  ;  now  the  soul  it  falb  a-mouramg  agaiji.  It 
is  not  for  the  glory  of  God  lo  give  the  soul  such  peace  out  of  hia 
ordinances  as  he  doth  in  them;  the  soul  it  would  not  prize  the 
ordinances  of  the  Lord  so  much ;  yet  there  it  is ;  and  when  they 
GWne  ttgain,  the  Lord  he  either  gives  them  the  same  refreshings 
Vlgliii.  or  else  there  is  a  new  spring. 

■"">.  The  eternal  efficacy  of  the  word  and  voice  of  God  ;  it  may 
be  preserved  in  an  internal  spirit  of  prayer,  for  the  continuanoa, 
of  it  while  a  man  halh  it,  and  for  the  return  of  it  when  it  is  loek 
Pa.  cxis.  4,  5,  "Thou  hast  commanded  us  to  keep  thy  precepto 
diligently."     David  he  knew  his  own  weakness ;  yet  be  inUm 


nilh  what  power  it  came  on  Lis  heart:  "0  that  mjr  soul  were 
direcled  to  keup  thy  filutulcs  1 "  When  the  soul  sees  the  beauty  of 
a  comnianU,  und  the  good  will  of  God,  how  sweet  it  is,  and  how 
amiable  the  wa;  and  work  of  God  is  I  "  O  that  my  heart  were 
directed  to  keep  rhy  statutes  1"  And  so,  when  it  is  gone,  (Pf 
Ixiii.  3.)  ''  My  soul  thiratclh  aflcr  thee,  Lord,"  saith  David,  "  tha 
I  may  see  thy  glory  and  power,  as  I  have  seen  thee  in  thy  sanc- 
tuary." He  doth  not  say,  thai  I  may  see  thy  glory  and  power  in 
thy  sanctuary,  though  that  might  be  loo ;  oo,  but  *'  that  I  may 
§vK  iliy  glory  and  power,  as  I  have  seen  thee  in  thy  sanctuary." 
David  he  did  find  a  want  of  seeing  him  as  he  had  done  ;  yet  the 
virtue  of  it  did  remain  in  a  spirit  of  thirsting  and  desire.  "  My 
Boul  thirsteth  for  thee,  as  in  a  dry  land  where  no  water  is,  tliat  I 
may  see  thee."  A  Christian  may  hare  at  some  time  such  a 
glimpse  (in  hearing  the  word)  of  God's  grace,  of  the  exceeding 
riches  of  God's  grace,  and  the  love  of  God  to  him,  that  be  may 
be  in  a  little  heaven  at  that  time ;  ravished  in  the  admiration  of 
that  mercy,  that  ever  God  should  look  to  him.  It  is  so,  and  the 
word  says  so,  and  the  soul  is  ravished  with  wonderment  at  it ; 
yet  God  is  gone  again,  and  the  soul  loses  it.  Now,  the  soul  thinks 
I  have  lost  the  elficacy  of  God's  word,  but  it  is  not  so ;  for  thus 
it  may  be  preserved.  O  that  I  may  see  this  God  as  1  have 
dune  1  And  all  his  lifetime  the  soul  may  find  the  want  of  this,  and 
yet  it  may  be  preserved  in  a  spirit  of  prayer.  /  For  whom  tSF 
Lord  hath  given  once  a  glimpse  of  his  glory,  the  soul  it  can  not 
be  at  rest,  but  it  breatlieth  for  more  of  tliat  mercy  and  presence ; 
a  Christian  may  find  his  spirit  marvejously  refreshed  at  the 
word,  he  may  taste  how  good  the  Lord  is,  and  he  may  lose  it 
again ;  but  this  may  be  pre^ved  in  a  spirit  of  longing  after  this 
God,  and  presence  again.  /And  I  will  say  this,  brethren,  a 
Christian  may  lind  no  good  by  the  word  to  his  apprehension ;  tta 
sees  the  admirable  blessed  estate  of  the  saints,  and  exceeding 
riches  of  God  in  Christ ;  sees  the  sweelnesg  of  the  ways  of  God ; 
goes  liome  and  thinks  within  himself,  Happy  they  that  are  in 
this  condition ;  blessed  are  they  that  can  walk  thus  with  God; 
but  1  con  not.  saiih  the  soul.  I  say  it  may  find  it  thus,  when  he 
can  not  find  the  real  efficacy  of  tlie  word  as  he  would  do ;  he  may 
receive  the  benefit  of  that  word,  if  the  Lord  do  but  only  give 
him  a  heart  to  desire  it.  O  that  the  Lord  would  but  thus  man- 
ifest himself  to  me  I  the  soul  may  go  away  poor  and  hungry  from 
the  word,  and  the  Lord  may  yet  reserve  a  spirit  of  thirsting  after 
that  gOo<l  which  a  man  desires  to  find ;  and  there  is  the  ctBcacy 
of  the  word  iliere. 

Am  bow  ibere  are  two  golden  veesels ;  one  a  man  fills,  and  it  ia 


< 


I 


876  OP   INEFFECTCAL    IIEABINO  THE   WORD. 

«Tory  day  dropping,  itnd  he  pi-cscrves  it:  niiolhor  vessel  he  does 
not  fill,  but  will)  soinetbing  thnt  lie  bnth,  he  is  every  day  widening 
of  it.  So  some  Christians,  the  Lord  be  is  a-fiUing  ot'  ihem ; 
others,  the  Lord  he  does  not  fill  them  wilh  sucb  peace  and  joy  ; 
ay,  but  though  the  Lord  is  not  filling  of  them,  he  is  a-widening 
of  them :  there  is  such  n  virtue  ihflc  the  Lord  does  enlarge  ibe 
heart,  with  secret  desires  and  longings  atler  more  of  God's  grace, 
and  Christ.  The  Lord  he  sailh,  I  intend  to  make  this  man  a 
vessel  of  glorj ;  and  I  intend  he  shall  have  a  great  deal  of  glory 
and  peace  at  the  lasL  The  Lord  ho  leaves  such  an  impression 
of  the  word  upon  him,  ss  that  thereby  be  enlargeth  the  heart: 
"  0|)en  thy  moatb  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it."  . 

4.  A  Christian  may  have  tbe  everlasting  efficAcy  of  the  woi4 
and  voice  of  God  preserved  in  ti  spirit  of  thankfulness  and  love 
to  the  Lord,  for  those  joys  and  good  that  it  finds  by  the  word 
sometimes.  When  it  feeU  that  the  sweet  and  savor  of  the  word 
is  gone,  a  spirit  of  tliankfulness  and  love  to  the  word,  that  doth 
remain.  The  Lord  he  preserves  the  efllcacy  of  the  word  In  this 
wity.  Ps.  cxix.  7,  "  I  shall,"  saith  David,  "  then  praise  Ihee 
with  uprighlnesB  of  heart,  when  I  shall  have  teamed  ihy  right- 
eous judgments."  The  Lord  he  may  leach  his  people  his  right* 
eoua  judgments ;  and  the  savor  and  feeling,  and  strength  of  tliem 
to  their  feeling  may  be  gone,  and  yet  it  is  preserved  in  a  eptrit 
of  thankfulness  and  praise,  that  ever  the  Lord  should  show  it 
such  mercy.  When  the  Spirit  is  gone,  the  spirit  of  love  and 
Ibanicfulness  reoiains.  As  now  a  man  hath  lieard  the  word,  ibe 
Lord  he  hath  etfectuolly  wrought  on  him,  and  changed  his  heart, 
and  drawn  him  to  himself;  a  Christian,  it  may  be,  he  may  Icwe 
those  sorrows  and  humiliations,  and  the  remembrance  of  tbosa 
things ;  yet  there  rcmainelh  to  his  dying  day  this  spirit^  be 
blosseih  God,  and  wondereth  at  God  that  ever  he  should  make 
the  word  effectual ;  that  he  should  leave  so  many  tlMiosanda  in 
the  world,  and  cast  his  skirt  over  him,  and  say  to  him,  Live ; 


this. 


still. 


Brethren,  the  Lord  does  somclimea  let  light  into  a  man's  mind 
10  discover  his  sin:  now,  this  light  it  does  not  sensibly  overcome 
the  power  of  sin ;  but  now  the  soul  blesseth  God  for  that  word 
wbiuh  hath  convinced  it.  Hud  I  never  seen  my  sin,  saith  the  soul, 
I  should  never  have  sought  for  |X)wcr  against  it,  and  pardon  of 
it :  and  this  continues  now.  and  can  not  hut  continue :  here  is  tbe 
efficacy  of  the  word,  tbe  word  of  Clod's  grace ;  though  the  flower 
of  it  be  gone,  yet  there  is  an  eternal  power  of  the  word ;  that  the 
Boul  can  say.  It  haih  come  to  me,  aud  helped  me  against  theso 

ks;  and  the  soul  wonders  at  the  Lord,  it  should  be  so  much  as 


EFfECTOAL   HEARING    TUE    WORD.  877 


it  is.  So,  Hgain,  a  Chrislian  lie  finds  ronrvelous  refreshings  and 
affection  wliile  he  is  a-liearing;  when  be  ii  gone  av/aj,  he  finda 
Dol  the  same,  but  be  blesseth  Goil  for  those  affections  he  finds, 
and  there  remains  an  etenuil  efficacy  of  the  word.  J 

5.  The  eternal  efficacy  of  ihe  word,  it  may  be  and  is  pre- 
served, by  Dourisbing,  increasing,  and  restoring  the  new  nina  that 
is  eternal.  There  is  a  double  efficacy  thai  the  word  haih;  the 
first  is  to  beget  a  Christian  to  life,  and  this  new  man  is  eternal. 
I  conceive  alt  the  actions  of  tb«  new  man  niny  be  suspeniii-d,  and 
the  increasings  of  the  new  creature  may  be  decayed,  though  God 
doth  renew  it  again ;  hut  Ibis  never  does  decay,  it  never  dies. 
"  He  that  is  bom  of  God  can  not  sin,  because  he  is  bom  of  God, 
and  because  the  seed  of  God  reniains  in  bim-" 

2.  There  is  efficacy  in  the  word  when  it  hath  begotten  a  man 
lo  nourish  him  up ;  and  so  ibc  word  it  is  food  to  him,  ihat  was  ' 
s«ed  to  him  to  beget  him,  which  food  is  eternal.  How  is  it  eter- 
nal? Is  it  in  this,  that  now  the  sweetness,  savor,  and  remem- 
brance of  every  thing  itml  doth  refresh  him  shall  last  in  itself? 
No,  but  in  this  respect  it  is  eternal,  in  that  it  leavelU  its  secret 
virtue  in  Ihe  nourishing  of  ihal  which  is  eternal.  As  now  Adam 
when  be  was  in  innocency,  and  had  an  immortal  body,  his  food  it 
sbould  hare  been  an  immortal  food  lo  him  i  but  how  should  that 
have  been  ?  Should  be  always  have  had  the  same  strength,  from 
the  same  diet  which  he  ate  lung  before  ?  No,  but  in  this  respect 
it  should  have  been  an  immorial  food  to  him,  in  that  it  was  to 
nourish  that  which  was  to  be  eiernah  So  it  is  here :  the  word  of 
God's  grace  it  begets  a.  man,  it  humbles  a  man,  and  draws  the 
soul  to  ChrisI ;  but  afterward  there  ui-e  many  things  tlial  God 
speaks  to  the  soul  in  the  word,  Ihut  lialh  an  eternal  virtue,  in  that 
it  doth  nourish  up  the  new  creature ;  the  word  hath  a  secret  vir- 
tue in  it  for  this  end.  1  will  show  it  you  thus:  (Is.  IviiL  II,) 
The  Lord  he  profe«scs  lo  his  people,  "Thy  soul  shall  be  as  a 
watered  garden."  The  Lord  will  make  the  souU  of  bis  people 
like  watered  gardens,  in  [wnee,  luid  joy,  and  life.  Now,  hwk,  as 
if  so  bo  Ireeii  be  watered  by  sunie  springs  that  run  by  it,  and 
elide  away,  und  ye  can  not  icll  which  it  is  that  makes  them  lo 
grow  i  yet  ye  know  ibis,  there  is  in  all  of  them  joined  together  a 
secret,  insensible  virtue,  that  every  one  of  ibem  adds  something 
lo  the  flourishing  of  ihc  tree :  so  it  is  here ;  the  saints  of  God,  the 
word  of  God  it  (iomtu  to  them,  and  jiai^es  by  tliem ;  and  ye  can 
not  tell  whoiber  this  part  or  thai  part  of  the  word  leave  any 
virtue,  but  many  times  a  man  feels  no  viriue ;  yet  it  b  manifest, 
here  is  a  flourishing  Christian,  here  is  heart,  and  life,  and  peace 
that  it  hath  with  Gud,  and  the  soul  it  remains  fiourishbg;  there 
32* 


878 


f  INF-FFBCTUAL   HEABISG   THE  WORP. 


b  n  eceret  virtue  ;  all  the  words  ibat  run  bj  and  pnes  hy  the  wub 
□f  God's  jieople,  tbej  do  leave  a  marvelous  virtue,  to  make  ibe 
souU  of  Gwl'x  pt'Ople  like  walei'ed  gardens,  and  U>  increase 
grace.  Note  it  hj  llie  w»y,  jou  that  live  under  Ibe  means  ot 
grat*,  "  your  eoula  shall  be  like  watered  gardens,"  if  God  have 
(ipok«n  to  you  fir^l  or  lti.«t ;  the  Lord  speaks  many  times  to  yon, 
eometimes  affecting,  and  sometimes  warning,  gomctimes  con- 
vincing and  humbling,  and  speaking  pence,  and  there  is  a  virtus 
that  remains,  and  if  ye  find  il  not,  know  that  God  hatb  not 
spoken  to  you. 

6.  Tbe  eternal  efficacy  of  the  word  may  be  preserved  in  ft 
power  of  conflict  against  the  power  of  sin  ;  for  therein  tbe  Lord'*-: 
,  i>ower  of  tbe  word  docs  principally  appear  in  this  life,  though  Dot 
in  a  power  of  victory ;  I  mean  a  complete  victory ;  yet  an  imper- 
fect and  incomplete  victory  ibere  ever  is,  first  or  last,  wherever 
there  is  a  power  of  conHIct.  I  mean  thus :  tbe  word  it  singles  & 
man  out,  and  speaks  to  his  heart,  and  eels  him  at  variance  witt 
his  sin,  and  with  himself  for  his  sin,  and  he  joins  side  with  God 
in  the  u^e  of  all  means,  tliat  his  unbelieving  heart  and  pr 
spirit  may  be  subdued;  it  sets  him  at  variance  with  his 
Now,  there  is  many  a  Christian  thinks  there  is  no  power  of  the 
word.  O,  my  unbelief  continues  still,  and  my  vain  mind,  and  I 
can  find  Utile  strength  i  no,  ye  must  not  look  tor  a  ])ower  of  a 
plete  victory,  but  yet  there  is  a  power  of  conflict.  God  he  seta 
tbe  soul  at  an  everlasting  distance  with  his  sin,  never  to  he  recon- 
ciled, and  looks  to  liie  Lord,  that  by  his  word  and  Spirit  be  would 
subdue  them,  that  bo  he  may  $ee  the  death  of  them  ;  and  he  aides 
with  the  Lord  in  the  use  of  all  means,  comes  to  the  word,  and ,' 
comes  to  pi-ayer,  and  says,  Speak  against  my  sin,  I^rd  i  Lord, 
waste  these  distempers :  and  so  the  soul  is  thus  at  variance  with 
his  sin ;  although  liis  Icmpiaiions  do  get  wind  and  hill  of  him,  be 
goes  again,  and  to  them  again ;  and  though  he  perisbetb,  a 
never  have  mercy  from  the  Lord ;  yet.  Lord,  thai  I  may  never 
sin  against  Ihec  more,  help  iherelbre.  Lord,  by  this  promise,  and 
mercy,  and  means ;  and  here  he  keeps  him,  and  here  he  holds. 
Truly,  brethren,  here  is  an  etenial  virtue,  and  such  a  virtue  as  no 
hypocrites  have,  tliat  hiive  some  sting  of  conscience,  and  after 
they  have  some  peace,  ihey  arc  at  jruce  with  their  sins.  No,  i 
there  is  nn  everlasting  conflict  and  warfare,  and  Itio  assure  yoa  J 
there  is  an  everlasting  power  gone  forth.  Malt.  xii.  20,  "  Christ  1 
will  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax,  * 
till  judgment  come  to  victory  i"  iheietbre  there  may  be  jtidg-  ' 
meat,  but  it  may  not  come  to  victory ;  there  may  be  smoke  and 
Are,  and  it  may  almost  go  out,  and  the  Lord  he  blows  it  uji  again  ; 


OF  ISEFFECTCAI.   UEAKISO   THE   WORD.  379 

and  at  the  last,  thougli  il  be  weak  anil  liille,  und  he  think  with 
himself  lie  ehull  never  get  strenglL  ngaiti,  yet  thu  Lord  wiU  give 

Only  be  cautious  hei'c :  I  lold  you  there  is  aa  incomplete  ric- 
tory;  the  Lord  never  gets  his  peopte  at  variunce  with  their  sin, 
but  lliej  hiive  victory ;  bui  it  ia  an  iuLompleie  victory.  SiiilL  Ao 
Lord,  "  I  wilt  drive  out  the  Ilitlilea,  and  Caiiaaniles,  and  Per- 
izxitei  before  you,  but  I  will  do  it  by  little  and  liille."  There  ia 
many  a  Christian  that  finda  wilhin  himself  a  spirit  of  wBrfare 
against  his  sin,  and  did  he  examine  himself,  be  should  find  a 
spirit  of  victory ;  but  he  thinks  he  bath  none  because  his  victory 
is  not  complete.  If  he  had  a  heart  so  lo  believe  us  never  to 
doubt  more,  and  such  quickening  aa  never  lo  be  dead  more,  never 
to  de|iart  from  God  mure,  now  1  ehould  tbiiik  the  word  oomes 
with  power;  but  I  find  that  these  evils  prevail  against  mo. 
There  is  many  a  one  dovs  scorn  the  kindness  of  Christ,  because 
be  finds  not  complete  victory,  but  darkness  remains  still,  and  sin- 
ful luits  remain  still ;  tbereforu  the  word  doth  me  no  good  at  all, 
suith  he.  The  Lord  he  haih  given  thee  a  spirit  of  conflict,  and 
hath  s«(  thee  at  an  everlasting  distance  with  thy  sin,  and  he  doth 
give  thee  some  victory.  Beloved,  a  Cliristian  may  decay  in  the 
power  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  which  he  hath  received  from  the 
word,  and  voice  of  God  in  the  word,  and  he  may  decay  and  grow 
lo  a  very  low  estate  i  yet  he  shall  find  tJiis :  the  word  of  the  Lord 
bath  come  wiili  power  lo  him,  it  will  recover  his  soul  again,  and 
■o  the  efficacy  of  the  word  is  elemal.  I's.  Ixxii.,  it  ia  said  <tf 
Christ,  that  ~  his  people  sludl  fear  him  so  long  as  sun  and  moon 
(ball  endure : "  that  is,  continually,  all  their  lifetime.  It  may  be 
said,  there  ho  many  that  find  decay  of  their  service  and  obedi- 
ence, and  they  lose  their  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  their  dread,  and 
their  humhlo  walking  )H.-fare  him.  "  He  »ball  come  as  the  rain 
on  the  mown  grass."  Many  times  a  Christian  hath  his  flourishing 
time  as  tlie  grass, but  when  the  grass  id  mown,  it  is  as  adrrchip; 
so  the  soul  it  nmy  grow  dry,  as  dry  as  a  chip.     Now,  where  is 

Jour  sap  and  savor?  But  1  tell  you.  if  you  belong  to  the  Ixinl 
esui,  the  rain  it  will  fall  again ;  the  word  of  God.  set  on  by  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  it  shall  fall  upon  you  as  the  rain  on  the  mown 
grass,  and  you  know  that  it  recovers  little  by.  little,  and  puts  un 
a  green  eo«tt  again.  Here  is  the  eternal  love  of  the  Lord  Jesua 
to  his  p«H)ple,  and  thus  the  eternal  efficacy  of  the  word  does 


3.  Uu  is  of  eihortaiiun.  O  brethren,  and  beloved  In  the 
Lord  Jesus,  may  a  Christian  hear  the  word  of  God  spoken,  and 
yet  never  hear  God  speak?     May  he  hear  it  extunuiUy,  and  not 


L 


I 


I 


internally  ?  Then  rest  noL  in  external  hearing,  and  with  some 
little  movings,  and  affections,  and  elirriiiga  of  ihe  word  of  God's 
grace  in  hearing.  Let  not  l)tc  word  be  to  jou  as  the  sound  of 
taanj  waters,  and  a  noise,  no  efficaej  of  the  word  iliai  dolh  re- 
main on  yonr  souls.  Breiliren  and  beloved  in  Christ,  I  lay  my 
finger  on  the  rare  in  these  timee.  O,  the  contempt  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  though  I  believe  it  bath  its  efficacy  in  the  heart  of  the 
elect:  that  ie  the  thing  that  I  press;  never  be  content  with  ex- 
temol  hearing,  though  thou  mayest  have  some  affection,  and  know 
new  things,  unless  thou  find  the  Lord  spealing  with  an  eternal 
effieacy  to  tby  soul.  I  ctiiiceive  two  things  are  to  be  done,  that  tho 
word  may  come  with  an  everlusling  efficacy  i  although  something  is 
to  be  done  by  ministers ;  ihnt  is,  to  preach  truth,  and  gospel  truth, 
fetched  from  heaven  with  many  praj-ers,  and  soaked  truth  with 
many  tears.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  that  truth  shall  make 
t'yOii  free."  Convincing  truth.  /  "  We  preach,"  saith  the  apoatte, 
'  "  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit.  The  Spirit  of  God,  when  ha 
Cometh,  he  uonvinccth  [he  world  of  sin."  Let  ministers  do  so. 
Preach  convincing  truth  and  gospel  truth,  fetched  front  heaven, 
and  bathed  in  tears.  O  brethren,  let  the  fire  bum  clear ;  let  ihcr* 
not  be  more  smoke  than  fire ;  it  will  never  come  wilh  power  then ; 
convincing  gospel  truth,  set  on  by  the  demonstration  ot  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,  and  this  will  set  a  Christian  at  liberty  ;  there  is  never 
such  a  sermon  that  tlie  faithful  ones  of  God  preach  to  you ;  if  It  i 
come  not  with  a  power  to  loosen  you  and  call  you  home,  it  comes 
I  with  a  power  to  blind  you  ;  it  is  "  an  ax  at  the  root  of  the  trees."* 
nlut  1  leave  this.  What  means  ought  the  people  to  use,  that  the 
word  of  God  may  come  wilh  efficacy  ? 

Them  tbal  are  in  their  unregenerate  estate,  the  Lord  only    , 
knows  how  to  work  on  their  hearts  ;  they  must  come  to  the  out- 
ward means.     I  speak  to  the  saints  of  God;  1  leave  others  to 
the  infinite  mercy  of  the  Lord.     "  It  is  not  in  him  that  willeih  or 
ruimeth,  but  in  the  Lord   tliat  sbowetb  mercy."      In  the  us©    , 
of  means :  — 

Meant  ).  Do  not  only  see  tby  infirmities  and  weakness,  but 
prey  to  God  to  give  thee  a  heart  bleeding  under  the  sense  of  thy 
many  infirmities.  Muny  times  men  slight  them,  and  are  not 
sensible  of  them  i  I  do  not  say  wickedness  and  wilfulness,  but  ibjf 
infirmities  and  weaknesses  get  a  heart  mourning  under  them. 
Christian  is  made  up  of  infirmities  and  weaknesses;  a  m 
would  not  think  there  is  timt  in  another  which  he  knows  by  him-  J 
self.  O  brethren,  labor  for  a  broken  heart  in  the  sense  of  your  I 
many  infirmities  and  weaknesses,  darkness  and  enmity,  vanity  | 
the  Lord  will  have  his  time  to  speak  to  such  %  J 


1 


S  WORD.  381 

soul.  "  Break  up  the  fallow  ground  of  your  hearts,  .  .  .  test  mj 
wrath  break  out  with  fire."  The  Lord  hath  promised  "  to  dwell 
with  the  poor  and  contrite."  Look,  ae  it  was  with  our  Saviour 
Christ ;  they  brought  the  sick  and  the  lame  oaea  to  bim,  and 
virtue  went  out  Trom  Christ  to  heal  ihem  all.  Bring  ihy  sick 
and  blind  heart  to  Christ,  and  virtue  shall  go  forth  from  Christ 
to  heal  it. 

2.  Draw  near  to  God  in  tie  word,  by  looking  on  it  as  God 
speaking  to  thee.     We  are  far  from  God,  and  therefore  we  can 
not  hear  him ;  draw  near  to  him  when  you  come  to  the  external 
word ;  when  you  come  to  hear  the  word,  hear  it  as  the  voice  of 
God.    "  Tou  heard  the  word  as  the  word  of  God,"  (1  Tbess.  2,  3,1 
which  yoa  felt  in  you.  /l  do  not  speak  that  the  soul  should  take] 
every  thing  that  ministers  speak  as  the  word  of  God,  but  that  which  t 
u  the  word  of  God,  take  it  as  God  speaking.     I  am  not  able  to  I 
express  the  infinite  unknown  sweetness,  and  mercy,  and  presence  | 
of  God,  that  you  shall  (ind  thus  coming.     I  know  it  is  a  common  \ 
truth,  but  I  am  not  ashamed  to  tell  you,  I  have  not  for  many  a  \ 
year  understood  this  truth,  and  I  see  but  little  of  it  yet ;  ye  have  I 
heard  of  it,  but  ye  do  not  understand  what  it  is  to  hear  God  / 
speaking.  I  When  God  liath  an  intent  to  harden  a  man's  heafil 
and  to  damn  him,  cither  be  shall  have  a  prejudice  against  the 
man,  or  else,  if  he  hath  not  a  prejudice  against  the  man,  there  is 

a  secret  loathiog  of  the  truth  in  regard  of  ibe  commonness  of  il, 
and  ibal  is  all,  and  the  Lord  he  hardens,  and  blinds,  and  prepares 
for  eternal  ruin  all  the  men  in  the  world  by  this  means,  that  live 
under  the  means.  When  the  Lord  spake  to  Samuel,  Samuel 
heard  a  voice,  but  he  heard  it  not  as  spoken  by  God ;  but  when 
be  took  £li'a  counsel,  and  saw  it  was  the  I^rd  that  s|>okc,  now 
be  listens  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  and  now  the  Lord  opens  all 
his  mind  to  him. 

3.  Do  not  trust  to  the  external  word.  It  is  a  heaven  on  earth 
lo  hear  the  word  exalted,  a  glorious  thing  to  bear  the  word  of 
God  a»  God's  word ;  but  trust  to  the  free  grace  of  God  in  it,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  Christ  to  set  on  that  word.  When  ibey 
brought  the  lame,  and  blind,  and  halt  to  Christ,  they  looked  for 
the  word  and  ihe  power  of  it.  "  Speak  the  word.  Lord,  and  ihy 
f>ervanlB  shall  be  whole;"  so  bring  your  blind,  lame,  and  hmt 
■ouls  to  Christ,  and  trust  to  the  free  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  "The  work  of  the  Lord  it  shall  prosper  in  hi*  hand;" 
BO  ihe.word  of  the  Lord  il  shall  prosper  in  his  hand  also. 

4.  Lastly,  so  seek  ihc  Lord,  nnd  so  hear  the  word,  so  see  (lie 
truth,  and  so  bear  the  truth,  as  that  you  lay  up  your  happineaa 
in  this  world,  in  dosing  with   the  truth  and  with  llie  word. 


I 


Brelliren,  what  is  a  man's  liitppincsa  in  hciiven  but  to  close  with 
God  and  Cliriel  ?  I  can  not  come  1o  God  now ;  the  mmt  Ihat  I 
can  have  of  God  now  is  in  Wn  word.  If  it  be  happiness  in  Leaten 
to  close  with  God  in  Christ,  Irul^  then  it  h  a  mao's  happiness  to 
close  with  God  in  his  word  on  carih ;  and  if  it  be  your  happiness, 
Ihj  up  your  happiness  in  it.  "  My  son,"  saith  Solomon,  "  if  thon 
wilt  bear  ray  words,  let  ihem  not  depart  from  Ibine  eyes ;  keep 
them  in  the  midst  of  thy  heart ; "  place  tby  happiness  in  them ; 
"BO  shall  ibeybelife  to  thy  soul."  (Prov.iii.  2i.)  NeTerthelesB, 
brethren,  let  a  raan'a  soul  be  set  upon  any  thing  in  the  worid, 
when  he  comes  to  bear,  besides  the  won] ;  if  be  lay  not  up  hia 
happiness  in  closing  with  the  word,  truly,  the  word  it  will  be  like 
a  song  to  hira.  The  prophet  Eiekiel  tells  ihem  '■  their  hearts 
were  gone  after  their  covelousness."  When  a  man  comes  to 
hear  a  sermon,  there  is  a  sermon  and  the  market,  tbe^  is  a  ser- 
rooD  and  a  friend  to  speak  withal ;  and  so  many  young  people 
will  go  abroad  to  hear  sermons.  What  is  tbe  end  of  it  ?  Il  is, 
that  ye  may  get  wives  and  hitsbaods,  many  of  you  ;  but  it  is  not 
your  blessedness  to  elose  with  the  Lord  in  his  word.  I  have 
known  some  men  that  have  bad  a  distaste  against  tbe  truth  of  the 
Lord  i  and  I  have  known  them  for  many  a  day,  tbey  have  not 
been  able  to  uoderstand  the  truth  of  the  Lord.  When  it  shall  be 
thus  with  a  man,  that  a  man's  heart  is  set  on  somelbing  else  be- 
sides the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  it  is  not  my  happiness  lo  close 
with  the  truth  of  the  Lord,  such  a  man  shall  never  understand 
the  truth  of  the  Lord.  Though  the  word  be  sweet  lo  you  some- 
times, if  your  blessedness  do  not  lie  in  tliis,  to  enjoy  God;  0,thia 
gospel  of  God,  and  these  commands  of  God,  that  your  blessed- 
ness do  not  lie  in  cleaving  to  tbe  Lord  in  bis  word  ;  I  say,  it  is  a 
certain  truth,  3'ou  shall  be  blinded  and  hardened  by  the  word  ; 
for  here  is  a  ruler  whatsoever  a  man's  heart  is  set  on,  as  bis 
chiefest  good,  the  prescn<:e  of  Ihat  good  it  comes  with  power.  So 
here,  the  precious  gospel  of  Christ,  when  the  presence  of  it  con*- 
munds  the  heart,  nothing  is  good  enough  for  it,  and  it  doseth 

raith  it,  and  with  Christ  in  it. 
I  beseech  you,  therefore,  beloved  in  Christ,  set  upon  the  use 
of  these  means  ;  think  within  yourselTes,  What  if  the  Lord  had 
left  me  without  the  word  ?  I  will  tell  you  what  ye  would  have 
been.  Look  upon  these  poor  Indians,  herds  of  beasts ;  look 
■  upon  others  on  their  ale  benclics,  enemies  to  tbe  Lord ;  such  a 
lone  thou  hsdst  been, 

^rhis  blessed  word  and  voice  of  God,  every  tittle  of  it  cost  the 
blood  of  Christ;  written  nil  the  lines  of  it  in  the  blood  of  Christ. 
0,  make  much  of  it,  and  it  will  make  much  of  you  ;  it  will  com- 


I 
I 


OF    IXEFFECTIAL   HEAUTUr,    THE    WO 


S83       1 


fori  you,  and  atrenglhen  you,  and  revive  you ;  and  if  the  word 
come  not  with  power,  ye  shall  be  under  llie  power  of  something 
else  ;  if  not  under  ihe  power  of  the  word,  then  under  the  power 
of  some  lust.  What  b  the  reason  that  these  poor  creatures,  that 
are  come  to  the  Irial  for  life  and  death,  that  hare  fallen  into  such 
Bins  as  were  never  heard  of?  What  is  the  reason  that  they  are 
under  the  power  of  their  lusts?  I  nil]  tell  you  what  Solomon 
eaith :  "  My  son,  if  wiedom  enter  into  thy  heart,  and  discretion  Jio 
jdeasant  to  thy  soul,  it  shall  keep  thee  from  Ihe  strange  woman  " 
and  sinful  companion.  '  If  it  be  pleasant,  here  is  the  reason  :  the 
word  of  God'a  grace  it  never  came  with  power,  or  if  it  came  with 
power,  powerless  the  word  of  God's  grace  hath  been  to  them ; 
and  because  it  hath  not  come  with  power,  Ihe  Lord  he  hath  given 
them  over  to  iho  power  of  their  lusts  and  sinful  distempers.  0 
brethren,  trnlj  I  can  not  see  how  any  man  can  maintain  any  evi< 
denee  of  God's  electing  love  ;  that  shall  hear  and  hear,  and  good 
days  mend  him  not,  nor  bad  days  pain  him ;  that  can  commend 
a  sermon,  and  speak  of  it ;  but  that  eHlcacy  is  not  known  to  hiro, 
neither  doth  he  mourn  for  the  want  of  it ;  but  the  eternal  efficacy 
thereof  is  a  stranger  to  it.  '  1  Thcss.  i.  5,  "  Knowing,"  saith  the 
apostle,  "your  election  of  God."  How  did  he  know  it?  For, 
eaith  he,  "  Our  gospel  came  not  to  you  in  word,  but  in  power ; " 
ye  will  rejoice  the  hearts  of  your  ministers,  when  the  word  comes 
with  power.     Let  me  say  this,  and  so  I  conclude. 

I  remember  the  Lord's  threatening :  "  I  will  take  away  the 
Etaff  of  bread,  and  ye  shall  cat,  and  shall  not  be  satisfied ; "  when 
the  Lord  shall  let  men  have  the  word,  when  the  Lord  shall  not 
take  away  ihe  word,  but  the  staff  of  the  word.  Suppose,  you 
poor  parents,  fathers  and  mothers,  your  families  should  have  * 
good  corn,  but  when  you  come  to  cat  it,  no  strength  at  all,  but  ye 
die  and  wear  away ;  and  others  tliat  arc  about  you,  they  have 
planted  the  same  corn,  and  eat  and  are  satisfied.  What  will  ye 
do  in  this  caw  ?  Yon  would  set  apart  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer;  and  say.  Good  Lord,  what  a  curse  is  upon  me!  My 
poor  children  are  dying;  before  me  ;  others  have  the  sUiff  of  com, 
but  my  family  have  no  strength  at  all.  Ye  would  mourn  if  it 
were  thus  with  your  poor  cattle.  O  for  poor  creatures  to  have 
the  word,  hut  the  efficacy  of  it  lo  be  taken  away !  no  ble^ing,  no 
power  at  all.  O,  poor  creatures,  go  and  say,  O,  the  curse  of  God 
that  lies  on  me,  the  wrath  of  God  that  lies  on  my  servants,  it  is 
a  heavy  plague.  But,  O,  the  sweetness  and  excellency  of  it, 
when  a  Christian  shall  find  everlasting  virtue  and  efficacy  con- 
veyed to  him  by  the  word  1 

All  you  that  arc  before  the  Lord  this  day,  ye  shall  see  an  end 


< 


L 


of  all  p«rfeclioo ;  but  eternal  things,  are  not  they  worth  aome* 
thing?  You  shall  see  on  end  of  all  delights  and  conientments t 
hat  this  shall  comfort  you  when  yoa  are  dying,  that  the  word 
which  you  attended  upon  the  Lord  id,  auch  peace,  and  such  con- 
Bolations  I  have  found  by  it;  and  the  efficacy  of  that  word  then 
remoius  with  you  ;  nny,  goes  to  heaven  with  yoo.  "  I  commend 
you,  therefore,  lo  ihe  word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you 
Mp  unto  an  eternal  inheritance  amongst  them  that  are  sanclified." 
(Acts  XX.  32.) 


mmm 


MEDITATIONS 


▲ITD 


SPIRITUAL    EXPERIENCES 


or 


MR.    THOMAS    SHEPARD, 


LATS  WORTOT  AND  DBAR  PASTOR  OF  THR 

CUUKCU  OF  CHRIST  IN  CAMBRIDGE,  IN  NEW  ENGLAND, 

FROM  NOVEMBER  IB,  16«^  TO  DECEMBER  V,  MIL  ' 


TRAN8CHIBBO  OUT  OP  HIS  OWN   BOOK,  WBXTTBN  WITH   HIS   OWN   HAND, 

AND  LEFT  BY  HIM  TO   HIS  SON,  THOMAS  SHEPARD, 

WITH  THIS    WORD   PREFIXED  : 

TMT  ALL  TUIXOS,  A2fD  HOLD  FAST  THAT  WHICH  a  OOOA 


TOL.   III. 


83 


385 


PREFACE. 


It  is  always  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance,  both  with  re- 
gard to  the  honor  of  God  and  the  interests  of  the  souU  of  men, 
that  Inic  religion  be  justly  delineated;  that  it  appear  in  its 
own  native  excellency,  worth,  and  beauty,  with  all  its  good- 
ness and  virtue,  as  that  which  conforms  the  soul  to  the  ioia^ 
of  the  blessed  God,  llio  conversation  and  practice  to  the  rules  of 
hb  word,  and  the  example  of  Christ,  anil  qualifies  the  man  for 
the  glorious  employments  and  entertainments  of  the  heavenly 
state,  as  well  as  for  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  assigned 
him  by  divine  Providence  in  this  present  world. 

When  the  nature,  the  pro|>erttes,  and  efleets  of  this  divine 
religion,  which  our  Lord  has  taught  and  exemplified  to  us,  are 
thus  clearly  opened,  and  duly  represented,  this  tends  to  rectiiy 
the  mistakes  of  many  persons  in  religious  matters ;  to  prevent 
and  remove  many  prejudices  persons  are  disposed  to  receive  and 
entertain  against  religion,  tlirough  mistakes,  cither  in  ihemsetves 
or  others,  (although  it  will  still  remain  a  sad  truth,  that  men's 
hearts  are  naturally  averse  to  the  power  of  religion,  though  rep- 
resented in  the  most  agreeable  light)  It  likewise  tends  to  con- 
Tince  rational  and  thinking  persons,  who  are  not  given  np  to  vice 
and  prejudice,  (especially  if  withal  they  see  it  duly  exemplified 
in  the  lives  of  those  who  profess  it,)  that  of  a  truth  God  is  in 
this  religion.  By  this  means  also  the  false  hopes  of  hypocrilea 
are  like  to  be  detected  and  discovered  to  their  view,  and  thereby 
an  opportunity  given  them  to  escape  out  of  the  snare,  that  would 
otherwise  have  proved  fatal  to  their  souls.  Nor  can  it  fiul  of 
•flbrding  comfort  to  those  who  are  truly  godly  to  find  their  own 
387 


I 


I 
I 


religion  eiuicllj  described,  and  proved  to  be  (be  religion  of  Gofi 
word.  Hereby  some  of  tb»t  number,  who  ore  under  grievom 
doubia  about  their  own  spiritual  state,  and  ready  to  reckon  them- 
selres  among  the  most  poor  and  nfiserable,  may  be  brought,  to 
see  llieraselves  possessed  of  the  pearl  of  great  price. 

And  as  it  is  always  a  matter  of  tlie  highest  importance  to  havfl 
true  religion  justly  represented  and  described,  so  there  are  some 
times  in  special,  wherein  those  means  that  have  the  greatest  ten- 
dency to  ^ve  persons  right  notions  of  it,  and  show  them  where- 
in its  essence  does  indeed  consist,  in  distinction  from  all  delueive 
appearances,  are,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  seasonable  nnd  necesaarf . 

Such  are  the  times  wherein  a  diversity  of  aentimenta  in  re- 
ligion greatly  prevails  among  the  professors  of  it,  when  many 
are  dbposed  to  lay  the  stress  of  religion  on  those  things  which 
the  word  of  God  makes  little  or  no  account  of,  or  perhaps  wholly 
rejects,  and  to  neglect  and  wholly  pass  by  those  things  wherein 
the  soul  and  essence  of  it  are  really  contained. 

How  for  this  is  the  present  stale  of  religion  in  some  places 
I  and  how  much  stress  is  laid  by  many  upon  some  things,  u  being 
I  effects  and  evidences  of  exalted  degrees  of  religion,  when  they 
I  are  so  far  from  Itcing  of  any  importance  in  it,  that  they  are  really 
irreligious,  a  mixture  of  self-love,  imagination,  nnd  spiritaal 
pride,  or  perhaps  the  influence  of  Satan  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light;  I  say,  how  much  stress  is  laid  upon  these  things 
by  many  I  shall  not  undertake  to  determine.  Hut  it  is  much  to 
be  feared,  that  while  God  was  carrying  on  a  glorious  -work  of 
grace,  and  undoubtedly  gathering  a  harvest  of  souls  to  himself, 
(which  we  should  always  remember  with  thankfulness,)  num- 
bers of  olbers  have  at  the  same  lime  been  fatally  deluded  by  tha 
devices  of  Satan  and  their  own  corrupt  hearts. 

"  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  conversions  of  some  have  no  better 
fonndation  than  this,  viz.,  that  at^r  ihey  have  been  under  som« 
concern  for  their  souls  a  white,  and,  it  may  be,  manifested  some 
rery  great  and  uncommon  distress  and  agonies,  they  have  on  s 
sudden  imagined  they  saw  Christ  in  some  posture  or  other, 
perhaps  on    the    cross,  bleeding   and  dying  for  their  una,  or 


I 


I 


PBEFACS.  889 

it  may  be  smiling  on  them,  and  thereby  Bignifjing  his  love  to 
them ;  and  that  these  and  the  like  things,  though  mere  imagi- 
nations, which  have  nothing  spiritual  in  them,  have  instantly 
removed  all  their  fears  and  distresses,  filled  them  with  rap- 
tures of  joj,  and  made  them  imagine  they  loved  Christ  with 
all  their  hearts,  when  the  bottom  of  all  was  nothing  but  self- 
love.  For  when  they  imagined  that  Christ  had  been  so  good  to 
them  as  to  save  them,  and,  as  it  were,  to  single  them  out  of  all 
the  world,  they  could  not  but  feel  some  kind  of  natural  gratitude 
to  him,  although  they  never  had  any  spiritual  view  of  his 
divine  glory,  excellency,  and  beauty,  and  consequently  never 
had  any  love  to  him  for  himself.  Or  that,  instead  of  having 
some  such  imaginary  view  of  Christ  as  has  been  mentioned, 
in  order  to  remove  their  distress  and  give  them  joy,  some  having 
had  a  passage,  or,  perhaps,  many  passages  of  Scripture  brought 
to  their  minds  with  power,  (as  they  express  it,)  such  as  that,  ^  Son, 
be  of  good  cheer ;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,*  and  the  like,  they 
have  immediately  applied  these  passages  to  themselves,  suppos- 
ing that  Grod  hereby  manifested  his  peculiar  favor  to  them  as  if 
mentioned  by  name  ;  never  considering  that  they  are  now  giving 
heed  to  new  revelations ;  there  being  no  such  thing  revealed  in 
the  word  of  Grod  as  that  this  or  that  particular  person  has,  or 
ever  shall  have,  his  sins  forgiven;  nor  yet  remembering  that 
Satan  can,  with  a  great  deal  of  seeming  pertinency,  (and  perhaps 
also  with  considerable  power,)  bring  Scripture  to  the  minds  of 
men,  as  he  did  to  Christ  himself.  And  thus  these  rejoice  upon 
having  some  Scripture  suddenly  suggested  to  them,  or  impressed 
upon  their  minds,  supposing  they  are  now  the  children  of  God ; 
just  as  did  the  other  upon  their  imaginary  views  of  Christ.  And 
it  is  said  {Eat  some'speak  6f  seeing  a  great  light  which  filled  all 
the  place  where  they  were,  and  dispelled  all  their  darkness,  fears, 
and  distresses,  and  almost  ravished  their  souls ;  while  others  have 
had  it  warmly  suggested  to  their  minds,  not  by  any  passage 
of  Scripture,  but,  as  it  were,  by  a  whisper  or  voice  from  heaven, 
that  Grod  loves  them,  that  Christ  is  theirs,  etc. ;  which  groundless 
imaginations  and  suggestions  of  Satan  have  had  the  same  effect 

83  • 


I 


390 

upon    Uiem  that  the  delusions  before   mentioned   had  c 
otbera. 

"  And   ns  is  the  conversion  of  ibis  sort  of  peraons, 

their  after  experiences ;  the  whole  ueing  built  upon  imagination, 

strong  impressions,  luid  KUdden  HUggesttons  made  to  iheir  minds  j 

1.  whence  they  are  usually  extremely  conddent,  (as  if  immediately 

y  informed  from  God,)  not  only  of  the  goodness  of  their  own  stale, 

I   but  of  their  infallible   knowledge  and   absolute   certainty  of  tha 

truth  of  every  thing  Ihey  pretend  to,  under  the  nolion  of  religion  t 

and  llius  all  ruafoning  with  som?  of  Ihem  ia  utterly  excluded. 

**  But  it  b  remarkable  of  ihe^e  thai  they  are  extremely  deliciei 
in  regard  of  true  poverty  of  spirit,  sense  of  exceeding  vilenei 
in  themselves,  such  as  frequently  makes  truly  gracious  eoub  1 
groan,  being  burdened  ;  as  also  in  regard  of  meekness,  ^ove, 
gentleness  toward  mankind,  tenderness  of  conscience  in  iheir  a 
dinary  aSairs  and  dealings  in  the  world ;  and  it  is  rare 
them  deeply  concerned  about  (he  principles  and  ends  c 
actions,  and  under  fears  lest  they  should  not  eye  the  glory  of  G 
chiefly,  but  live  to  themselves ;  or  this  at  least  is  the  case  in  titcir  ' 
ordinary  conduct,  whether  civil  or  religious.     But  if  any  oae  of 
their  peculiar  notions  which  their  zeal  has  espoused  be  attacked, 
they  are  then  so  conscienlious  they  must  burn  if  called  to  it,  fat  ■ 
the  defense  of  it.     Yet,  at  the  same  time  when  they  ar 
Ireraely  deflcient  in   regard  of  these   precious   divine 
which  have  been  mentioned,  they  are  usually  full  of  zeal,  c 
com,  and  fervency  in  the  things  of  religion,  and  oden  discours 
of  them  with  much  warmth  and  engagement    And  li 
do  not  know  or  do  not  consider  wherein  the  essence 
ligion  consists,  viz.,  in  being  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ, 
not  in  point  of  zeal  and  fervency  only,  but  in  all  divine  tempers 
and  practices ;  I  say  to  those   who  do  not  duly  observe  and 
distinguish,  they  ot^en  appear  like  [he  best  of  men." 
1      Now,  as  all  pi'oiwr  means  are  lo  be  used  to  cure  the  errors  of'I 
men's  minds,  especially  in  things  of  religion,  and  as  something  of  | 
this  naluTv  may  therefore  seem  peculiarly  needful,  especially  u 
some  plai'i'M.  so  It  \»  hopeful  thitl  the  publication  of  the  foUowing 


ess,! 


PREFACE.  SSI 

■mall  piece  of  Ibe  Sev.  Ur.  Sbepard's  frill  be  made  ia  soma 
measure  serviceable  in  thai  respect.  For  as  it  is  a  journul  of  tUe 
private  experiences  of  that  excellent  and  holy  man,  designed  for 
his  own  use,  so  it  coalains,  as  it  were,  this  true  religion  for  a 
course  of  time,  delineated  to  u!>  in  a  very  exact  manner;  whence 
we  have  opporlunily  to  see  with  utmost  plainness  what  passed 
with  him  for  religion,  what  he  labored  after  under  that  notion, 
and  what  were  the  exercises  and  diUiculties  he  met  with  in  pur- 
suance of  a  religious  life.  And  those  who  hare  any  savor  for 
the  name  and  piety  of  that  venerable  man,  it  is  hoped  will  read 
his  experiences  with  care  and  attention,  and  as  they  read,  consider 
whether  there  be  any  manner  of  agreement  between  his  and 
thein.  ■And  whoever  reads  attentively,  I  am  persuaded,  must 
own  tliat  be  finds  a  greater  appearance  of  true  humility,  self- 
emptiness,  self-lou thing,  sense  of  great  unfruitfulness,  acllishness, 
cxueeding  vileness  uf  heart,  smallness  of  altainmeals  in  graeo_ 
I  say,  be  must  needs  own  that  he  finds  more  expressions  of 
deep,  unfeigned  self-aliasement  in  these  experiences  of  Mr.  Sbep- 
ard's than  some  are  willing  to  admit  of.  And  it  is  hopeful  the 
reader  wilt  furllicr  observe  that  when  Mr.  Sliepard  speaks  of  his 
comforts  in  religion,  as  he  frequently  does  of  his  satisfaction,  and 
sweetness,  and  desire  to  die  and  to  be  with  Christ,  he  always, 
gives  a  solid  account  of  the  foundation  of  these  comforts,  and 
mentions  some  exercises  of  grace  from  which  they  proceeded. 
So  ihat  they  are  wholly  different  from  tliose  groundless  joys  that 
arise  in  the  minds  of  poor  deluded  soub  fi;om  a  sadden  sugges- 
tion made  to  tliem,  that  Christ  is  theirs,  that  God  loves  them,  and 
the  like.  The  reader  will  further  observe  that  he  valued  noth- 
ing in  religion  that  was  not  done  with  a  view  to  the  glory  of  God, 
as  appears  by  many  of  his  expressions,  especially  that  under 
April  15,  where  he  says.  "  When  I  looked  over  the  day,  I  saw 
how  I  fell  short  of  God  and  Christ,  and  how  I  had  spent  one 
hour  unprolilably.  And  why  ?  Because,  though  the  thing  I  did 
was  good,  yet  because  I  intended  not  God  in  it  as  my  last  end, 
■nd  did  Dot  set  my  rule  before  me,  and  so  set  myself  to  please 
Qod,  therefore    I  was  unprofitable."     0  that  others  from  this 


IL 


f 


or  whethof^l 


example  would  le&m  to  lajr  the  stress  of  religion  here, 

thnt  whether  thej  live  they  might  live  to  the  Lord, 

they  die  they  might  die  to  ihe  Lord. 

I      There  is  something  in  these  papers  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shepard's 

'  that  seems  excellently  calculated  to  be  of  service  to  those  who 

ttre  in  the  mioistry,  in  particular.     Hia  method  of  examining  hia 

sima  and  ends,  and  the  temper  of  his  mind,  both  before  and  aAer  J 

preacliingt  whether  he  hod  met  with  enlargement  or  Btraitening)S 

is  an  excellent  example  for  others  that  bear  the  sacred  cbaraclenf 

By  this  means  they  are  like  to  gain  a  large  aequainfance  wtthl 

I  their  own  hearts,  as  it  is  evident  he  had  with  hia, 

^    Slay  Ihe  bleesing  of  Heaven  attend  the  following  pages,  that  li 

who  has  long  been  dead  may  yet  speak  by  them  to  the  instn 

lion,  eonviclion,  and  saving  benefit  of  many  souls. 

David  Brainerd. 
Augatt,  IT4T. 


MEDITATIONS  AND  SPIRITUAL 

EXPERIENCES. 


Nov.  25, 1640.  I  FOUND  mj  lieart  and  mouth  straitened  on 
the  lecture  daj,  and  for  want  of  enlargement  much  troubled. 
Hence  I  essayed  to  humble  mj  soul  before  God,  which  the  Lord 
helped  me  to  do  in  this  manner :  — 

1.  I  saw  the  vanity  of  honor ;  and  therefore  whj  should  I  be 
troubled  for  the  loss  of  it  by  the  want  of  enlargements  ? 

(1.^  Because  it  was  but  a  conceit  in  men's  minds  of  itself. 
(2.)  Because  it  was  naturally  most  dear,  and  so  stood  between 
me  and  Christ. 

2.  I  saw  how  fit  it  was  that  the  will  of  Christ  should  be  done 
as  well  in  denying  as  in  giving  enlargements,  though  he  should 
strip  me  naked  of  them  and  all  other  things. 

3.  When  my  heart  objected,  Can  you  be  content  that  Christ 
should  lose  his  honor,  and  his  ordinance  be  blemished  by  your 
straitening  ?  I  then  saw  I  was  to  be  content  to  want  them  in 
regard  of  my  own  un worthiness,  and  so,  — 

(1.)  To  be  vile  in  my  own  eyes  for  my  sin,  that  moves  the 
Lord  to  deny. 

'2.)  To  mourn  that  he  should  not  glorify  himself  by  me. 

^3.)  Then  to  pray  him  the  more  earnestly  to  glonfy  himself 
by  doing  for  me  by  his  own  hand. 

(4.)  I  saw  therefore  that  I  should  leave  myself  with  the  Lord 
for  that  end,  with  him  who  all  had,  and  only  did  alL 

i^r.  29.  In  prayer  I  saw  my  heart  very  vile,  filled  with  noth- 
ing lut  evu ;  nay,  mind,  and  mouth,  and  life,  and  all,  void  of 
God.  Hence  I  prayed  to  the  Lord  to  possess  me  again :  (1.)  Be- 
cause he  only  was  good.     (2.)  Because  he  only  was  worthy. 

Dee.  1.     A  small  thing  troubled  me.     Hence  I  saw 

893 


Si 


8fll 


MEDITATIOXS  ASU 


EXPEXtKXCKB.   I 


I 

I 

I 


tboDgli  the  Lord  had  made  me  that  nigbl  attain  to  that  ^ 
bamilialion  to  sec  that  I  deserved  nulhing  biit  tniierj,  jet  I  teH 
■bon  in  this  other  part,  viz„  to  submit  to  God  in  anj-  crossing 
providence  or  mmmand,  but  had  a  spirit  soon  toadied  and  pro- 
voked. I  gaw  alco  ibat  the  Lord  let  sin  and  Stttan  preTnil  there, 
that  I  might  see  m;  sin,  aiid  be  more  humbled  by  it,  and 
fitrenglh  a^inst  it 

"f-    ]fi      I  anw  mjTselfver}' miserable:  — 

r.  BecauM  hj  my  sin  1  had  separated  myself  from  God,  and 
tamed  far  from  him. 

2,  That  he  voi  turned  in  bis  face  from  me. 

Sl.^  I  had  no  sense  of  his  mnjesly,  power,  mercy,  being. 
2.)  No  sense  of  his  love. 

3.  I  saw  sin  had  shut  him  from  me,  and  mj  unbelief,  when 
he  came  to  me,  shut  him  out  of  me.  Hence  1  saw  a  need  of  a 
Medintor  between  us,  and  mourned. 

CI  had  a  glimpse  of  the  fullness  of  grace  in  Christ,  in  meditation 
_j  John  i.  14,  lilte  a  fountain  overtloiring,  and  above  all  mj  con^ 
ceiving,  to  poor  sinners  which  come  to  him.  And  hence  mj  heari 
I  began  to  be  filled  wiili  lively  hope  and  assurance. 

J}ec.  26.  In  reading  the  12ib  of  Hebrews,  that  "Things 
shaken  and  made  must  be  removed,  that  things  anmoTable  may 
stand,"  I  saw  hence  three  things:  — 

1.  That  only  Christ  and  his  word  shall  remain  and  stand 
unshaken. 

2.  That  it  is  the  sweetest  thing  to  forsake  all  ereatnres,  uid 
there  to  abide  as  the  stone  on  the  foundation. 

(1.)  It  is  borne  up  with  it. 

(2.)  It  rests  there. 

(8.)  I  saw  how  good  it  was  to  depart  out  of  this  world,  and  to 
be  with  Grod,  perfectly  near  him,  where  no  more  shaking  is,  <tF 
shall  be. 

^gc.  28.  I  desiring  to  be  led  by  the  truth,  it  was  suggested. 
Follow  It  in  your  pnictice,  and  prize  it  dearly,  and  1  will  go  b»- 

nforo  you,  and  lead  you  into  all  truth.  Bui/I  saw  how  little  t 
loved  the  truths  and  ways  of  God,  either  practical  or  specu- 
lative  truth. 

I  saw  this  morning  how  all  my 
(1.)  He  had  plotted  them, 
(2.)  Purchased  ihem, 
(3.)  Promised  them, 
(4.J  Effected  tbem.     And  min 
Lord  with  these  thoughts. 

Jan.  2.     I  saw,  (1.)  Christ 
which  trust ' 


I 


3  heart  was  drawn 


a  unmovable.     (2.)  That  the^a 
e  so.    Fs.  cxxv.,  "  Like  Mount  Zion."    (3.yl 


MEDITATIONS   AND   SPIRITUAL    I^XFEniEKCES.  393 

I  saw  that  true  trust  was  that  which  Dtivi<]  speaks  of,  (Ps.  xxxix.,) 
"And  now,  Lord,  what  wait  I  for?  My  hope  is  in  Ihee,"  His 
heart  asked  him,  Dost  thon  hope  for  God  ?  What  do  I,  said  he, 
hope  for  ebe?  Hence  I  saw,  (1.)  That  true  hope  hath  other 
afiectioBS  of  desire  and  love  mixed  with  i(.  (2-)  That  he  that 
hopes  fur  nothing  but  God,  and  for  all  things  only  from  God, 
hopes  truly.  But  1  found  a  temptation  and  a  stop.  Did  I  hope 
for  ikll  things  from  God,  and  only  God's  things  ?  Do  I  hope  and 
long  to  he  out  of  the  world  to  be  perfeetly  free  from  all  sin,  and 
£lled  with  all  grace  ?  H«re  I  eaw  this  I  could  not  do  unlit  I 
did  feel  the  intinite  vilenesn  of  sin,  and  lasted  a  happiness  in  boli- 
reas,  and  placed  all  my  happiness  there ;  which  I  felt  a  want  of. 
And  hence  I  bewailed  my  condition  before  the  Lord  in  this  re- 
spect, and  purposed  to  make  up  the  breach  herein,  through  his 
grace ;  blessing  God,  I  saw  the  worst  of  my  heart,  as  well  as  the! 
goo-I  of  it.  J 

Jan.  6.  I  saw  I  could  have  no  peace  at  death,  nor  hope  that 
J  stiouid  go  to  Christ,  unless  I  did  intend  to  do  Christ's  work 
while  I  lived.  Hereupon  I  considered.  If  I  love  him,  my  soul 
will  seek  him.  So  I  considered  that  I  must  keep  alive  my  loi£|i. 
lo  him  in  my  bejiri  for  this  end.  And  why  should  I  love  him?\ 
Because  none  was  good,  or  could  do  me  good,  but  he.  MyeeliJ 
sins,  child,  could  do  neither  me  nor  themselves  any  good ;  but 
only  he.  Then  1  considered,  Shall  I  love  bim  only  because  he  is 
only  good  to  me?  ...  I  then  reflected  upon  myself,  and  inaw  mj 
own  vileness  and  selfishness ;  and  how  fit  it  was  the  Lord  should 
never  regard  me  oa  that  account;  yet  I  resolved  to  seek  him. 

This  morning,  in  meditation  and  prayer,  I  was  tempted  to 
think  no  promise,  no,  nor  command  of  God  to  seek  the  Lord  and 
Aubmit  to  him,  was  directed  to  me ;  hut  rather  that  he  had  in 
justice  forsaken  me,  and  so  let  me  do  what  1  please.  But  when 
I  considered  the  Scriptures,  how  ihal  they  did  but  manifest  that 
acting  will  of  n  living  God,  revealing  Ihat  secret  will,  which  is 
ever  so  set  as  llio  word  reveals,  my  soul  was  quieted,  and  I 
loved  ihe  Scriptures  the  more. 

Jan.  9.  As  I  was  walking  in  my  study,  musing  on  my  ser- 
mon in  {^.  10,  that  God's  mercy  was  himiwlJ^  as  his  justice  also 
wail,  -^  the  one  to  the  men  that  come  to  Christ,  and  to  those  that 
are  out  of  Chriel  ihe  oilier,  —  hence  I  considered.  When  I  come 
lo  Christ  there  is  no  wralli  or  justice  to  devour,  but  sweet  love : 
wrtilh  there  is  for  refusing  him,  not  else.  It  was  then  objected. 
But  it  is  to  the  elect  only.  The  Lord  let  me  then  see  I  had 
nothing  to  do  with  that,  but  to  look  on  his  truth,  which  is  lo  them 
that  come  lo  liim,  ihai  he  would  stand  as  a  rock  between  Iba 


I 


k 


I 


896  HEDITATI0N9   AND    SPIRrTFAL   EXFERIEKCE9. 

eoorching  san  and  their  Mats.  Hence  my  heart  was  sweetly 
ravished,  Hnii  began  to  long  to  die,  and  ihiDk  of  being  with  him. 
And  mj  heart  said.  Hemembcr  to  comfort  yourself  thus,  when 
you  come  to  lie  on  your  eick  bed,  to  lie  under  this  rock,  as  in  a 
hot  day.  If  one  saw  a  rock  in  a  hot  day.  shoald  he  gay,  That 
rock  will  cool  me  if  I  be  elected  (o  it,  nnd  God  has  porpoeed  it? 
to  keep  off  in  fears.  No,  God  ha£  purposed  thus  to  be  a  rock 
to  all  that  ootne  to  him,  and  are  drawn  by  hie  (ove. 

r-^Jren.  1 1 .  In  the  morning,  the  Lord  presented  to  me  the  sad 
state  of  the  church ;  which  put  me  upon  a  spirit  of  sorrow  for  my 
Bins,  as  one  cause,  and  to  resolve  in  season  to  go  visit  all  famtliea. 
But  first  to  begin  with  myself,  and  go  to  Christ,  that  he  may 
begin  to  pour  his  ointment  on  me  ;  and  then  to  my  wife,  and  then 

Wo  tny  family,  and  then  to  my  brelhren,  etc. 

p*TAgB.  Ig^^On  lecture  day  morning  1  began  to  feel  my  heflit 

■  slight  anJvilify  what  I  was  to  deliver.  But  the  Lord  put  it  into 
my  mind  Chat,  though  the  truth  is  a  poor,  mean  thing  in  ilaelf,  aa 
every  wdinaiice  also  is,  yet  very  glorious,  as  it  is  appointed  and 
separated  of  God  for  his  own  ends.  Hence  I  came  (o  see  Ihi 
glory  of  Grod's  ordinances,  where  it  did  lie ;  and  that  was,  not  ii . 
themselves,  but  in  God's  sanctifying  them  for  most  sweet  ends, 
to  communicate  his  presence  and  his  lovely  pleasantness,  and  this 


I  love  operating  with  power. 


I  saw  my  loose  walking  without  God,  and  so  was 
put  to  a  stand  what  to  sny  of  myself.  I  saw  that  hypocrites  are 
far  from  humbling,  because  far  from  conviction  :  they  hope  some- 
thing there  is  in  them.  But  I  brought  my  heart  to  coDsidw 
thus :  If  my  state  is  good,  then  there  is  cause  of  deeper  mourning  j 
for  abasing  the  Lord,  so  good  i  or  my  state  is  not  good,  and  thea 
there  is  cause  of  breaking,  because  I  am  so  wretched  still ;  and  m 
I  went  to  prayer. 

Jan.  21.     I  saw  God's  wmih  kindled  against  sin ;  and  henoe  i 
I  saw  and  mourned  for  the  evil  of  sin,  so  bitter  to  him,  ( 

I  was  on  the  26th  of  January  much  affected  with  the  Lord^ 
goodness,  and  brought  near  to  him. 

First  I  found  many  lets  standing  between  me  and  the  Lonl  in 
prayer ;  as  the  hiding  of  his  face,  my  own  heart  turned  from 
him.  But  then  I  saw  Christ,  and  his  command  to  come  hand  is 
hand  with  him  to  the  Father.  So  that  methougbt  I  was  with 
God  and  in  his  presence.  And  then  this  truth  came  in,  that  if 
ever  I  got  good  from  the  Lord  in  any  ordinance,  I  most  first 
come  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  set  him  before  me,  as  Cor- 
nelius and  his  company  did,  and  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  And  when  X  ■ 
VM  here,  methought  it  was  so  sweet  to  pray  and  make  my  a 


I 


MCPITATIONS   AND    SPIRITUAL    EXPER1ESCE2. 


397 


to  the  Lord,  as  a  God  that  could  >ad  wm  willing  to  pity.  And 
so  I  vtts  so  knit  lo  God  that  I  intended  nercr  to  depart  from 
faim  ngain.  (1.)  I  saw  God  woi  my  rest;  and  bcnce  why 
should  I  depart  from  him  lo  any  olber  thing,  in  rrgai^  of  his 
goodness?  (2.)  I  saw  ibe  riches  of  his  mercy:  hence  I  came 
to  get  my  conscience  at  rest,  and  to  believe  be  irould  hear  me, 
and  be  with  me.  (3.)  I  saw  his  glory;  and  hence  saw  my  whole 
life  should  re^t  there,  in  acting  for  and  honoring  of  him  who 
nlonc  was  worthy. 

Jan.  28.  I  coBsideretl,  being  in  his  presence,  what  I  did  want.  ' 
And  it  came  in  thus:  (1.)  I  did  want  light,  even  so  much  as  lo 
make  me  believe  steadfastly.  (2.)  So  much  faith  a.s  to  make 
tne  cleare  to  God  constantly.  (3.)  For  want  of  this  I  departed 
from  God.  (4.)  By  departing,  at  1  woe  came  amain  upon  me; 
both  sin  and  misery.  Ami  so  I  understood,  better  than  before, 
how  unbelief  was  th«  cause  of  all  woe. 

Jan.  30.  When  I  was  in  meditation,  I  saw,  when  Christ  was 
present,  all  blessings  were  present ;  as  wher«  any  were  without 
Christ  present,  lliere  all  sorrows  were.  Hence  I  saw  how  little 
of  Christ  was  present  in  me,  I  saw  I  did  not  cease  lo  be  and 
live  of  myself,  that  Christ  might  be  and  live  in  me.  I  saw  that 
Christ  was  to  do,  counsel,  direct,  and  Ihnt  I  should  be  wholly 
dilTident  of  myself,  and  careful  for  this,  thai  he  might  be  all  to 
roe.  Hence  1  blessed  Christ  for  sliowiug  me  this,  and  mourned 
for  the  want  of  it. 

At  the  same  time  I  saw  his  will,  and  how  it  was  my  sin  so  to 
pray,  as  to  think  to  bring  God's  will  U>  mine,  with  a  secret  mur- 
tnuring.  or  blinking.  It  is  in  vain  to  seek  if  the  Lord  do  not  so. 
For  what  is  this  bat  pride,  and  lo  command  Christ,  and  to  be 
above  hint,  as  if  I  were  wiser  than  he  ?  But  I  saw  the  work  of 
pruyer  was  to  bring  my  will  to  his.  And  this  gave  me  much 
light,  and  sel  my  heart  in  a  sweet  franic ;  and  hence  I  understood 
thai  place,  "  Wimlsoerer  we  ask  according  to  his  will,  he  beareth 
as."  And  this,  not  only  when  we  pray  according  to  his  will  of 
precept  and  proTaiifc,  but  when  we  have  done,  to  bring  our  wills 
lo  his  sweet  sovereign  will,  let  him  do  with  me  what  he  please : 
which  is  his  will  of  sovereignty.  Now,  in  the  time  of  prayer,  I 
considered  why  tlie  Lord  should  command  me  to  ask  pardon, 
peace,  brokenness  of  heart,  etc  And  I  considered,  IhM  it  mu«t 
needs  be  that  he  might  give  me  the  thing  promised.  (I.)  Be- 
cause his  commanding  will  is  ever  attended  with  a  promise. 
(2.)  Dccause  it  was  for  hja  glory,  as  well  as  my  good,  that  I 
V'^ould  ask.  And  hence  he  would  give  cenainly,  when  I  did 
■aak,  especially  being  set  on  by  hia  command.  Hence  my  hevt 
■  oL.  ui.  31 


3D8  MEDrrATIOSa   A51>   SFIKITCiL    ESPERIEnCBI 

was  mucli  moved  and  inched,  lo  cousidei'  of  my  unbelipT 
and  bow  much  I  had  dislioncfred  Clirist,  thos  to  think  of 
and  to  maintain  hard  thoughts  of  him,  that  he  will  not  1 
Ami  so  began  that  day  of  fast  lo  believe,  etc 
T'^Feb.  J.  When  I  was  on  my  bed  a  Monday  moTnisg,  tb« 
'  Lord  let  me  see  I  was  nothing  else  but  n  mass  of  nn,  and  thaf  i 
all  I  did  was  very  vile.  Whii-h  when  my  heart  was  somewhat 
touched  with,  immediately  the  Lord  revealed  himself  to  me  ia 
hia  fullness  of  goodness  with  much  aweet  affection.  The  Lord 
saddealy  appeared,  and  let  me  see  there  vras  strength  in  hira  to 
succor  me,  wisdom  to  guide,  mercy  in  him  to  qaiuken,  Christ  to 
satisfy.  And  so  I  saw  all  my  good  was  there,  as  all  evil  was  in 
myself.  Hereupon  1  began  to  entertain  thoughts  of  the  glory 
of  this  mercy,  if  the  Lord  would  become  mine  ;  so  that  I  should 
be  strong  with  God's  strength,  and  live  by  God's  Ufe,  and  be 
guided  by  God's  wisdom,  etc. ;  and  should  become  his,  for  him 
to  take  care  for  me  and  love  me,  and  I  to  pilch  my  thought  and 
heart  on  him.  I  considered,  this  would  be  an  exchange  of  wonder- 
ful love,  for  me  to  have  God,  and  not  myself,  and  God  to  hava 
\  me,  and  give  me  himself. 

i  arose  with  these  thoughts,  and  had  some  purposes  to  consider 
more  of  them.  And  on  Monday  night,  the  same  day  in  prayer 
and  meditation,  these  thoughts  came  in  from  the  experience  which 
I  found  then,  viz.:  (1.)  I  saw  all  fullness  in  God  of  all  the 
good  I  did  need;  and  so  all  my  good,  or  what  might  be  good  for 
me,  there,  and  so  considered,  that  the  first  thing  the  Lord  reveUa 
to  draw  the  soul  to  himself  is  the  fuUness  of  grace  in  himself. 

(2.)  Being  doubting,  Is  this  mine  or  no?  1  then  considered, 
that  the  Lord  did  invite  me  lo  come  to  him,  because  I  saw  that 
his  word  did  not  bid  me  depart  from  him.  And  methought,  in 
considering  this,  the  Lord'a  word.  Come,  poor  creature,  was  so 
sweet  that  I  came  to  him. 

{3.)  Being  thus  come,  I  con.sidercd,  I  must  cleave  lo  him,  and 
be  knit  to  him.  And  then  tlie  remembrance  of  this,  that  all  my 
good,  all  was  in  him,  made  me  so  to  do,  in  some  measure,  with 
dear  affections. 

(1.)  Cleaving  thus  to  him,  I  considered,  whether  he  was  be- 
come mine  now,  and  I  bis.  And  here  I  stuck  a  while,  b«ng 
loth  to  fancy  such  a  thing,  and  because  he  did  not  cleave  lo  me, 
as  I  could  feel.   But  the  night  after,  God  relumed  this  answer:  — 

(I.)   That  he  had  applied  himself  to  me,  because  he  had 
drawn  me  to  himself,  who  else  could  never  have  come.     And 
hene«,  if  he  pitied  me  when  far  from,  much  more  being 
near  to  him.     (2.)  Because  of  ihe  riches  and  fullness 


i 


I 


iing  now^H 
68  of  his^H 


MF.D1TATI0S3   ASD    SriniTUAI.   EXPEftlENCES. 


"  Iliio  that  cotueth  1  wiU  h 


Feb.  9.  I  coDsidereJ,  wLen  I  could  not  bring  Christ's  will  to 
■nine,  I  wu  to  bring  niiiw  to  his.  But  Ibea  it  mast  be  thua; 
(1.)  That  if  ever  he  gives  my  desire,  it  vrill  be  iuQiiite  mercy; 
and  so  hia  will  ig  good.  (3.)  If  he  dolh  not,  yet  that  I  deserved 
to  be  crossed,  and  to  I'eel  uotliiiig  but  extremity. 

Feh.  14.  When  Ibere  was  a  church  meeting  to  be  resolved 
about  our  going  away,  [vii.,  to  Alatabesvck,]  I  looked  on  my- 
self as  poor,  And  as  unabki  lo  resolv«  my&elf  or  lo  guide  others, 
or  myself,  in  any  action,  as  a  beasU  And  I  saw  myself,  in  resjieot 
of  Christ,  as  brutish  as  a  brute  is  in  respect  of  man.  And  hence, 
(1.)  I  lell  myself  on  Christ's  u-isdom.  <2.)  I  understood  the 
meaning  of  Prov-  xxx.,  that,  though  Agur  knew  he  had  wisdom, 
yei  in  respect  of  Christ  be  was  brutish,  and  also  in  respect  of  won. 
As  it  is  siud,  "  There  is  none  good  but  God  ;  "  and  when  God  is 
culled  only  wi»e. 

Feb.  15.  I  was  in  prayer,  otid  in  the  beginning  of  it  that 
promise  came  in,  "Seek  me,  and  you  shall  live."    (Hag.  i.) 

HercilpOD  I  saw  I  bad  cause  to  seek  bim  only,  always  ;  be- 
cause there  was  notbiug  ebe  good,  and  because  he  was  always 
good.  And  my  heart  made  choice  of  God  alone,  and  he  was  a 
sweet  portion  lo  me.  And  I  began  lo  see  bow  well  I  could  be 
without  all  otlicr  things  wilb  bim  ;  and  so  learnt  lo  live  by  fiutb. 
Only  it  came  in,  Why  did  I  not  desire  lo  live  with  him  alone  in 
heaven?  And  I  saw  my  heart  very  apt  to  comfort  itself  ia 
other  things  besides  bim. 

Feh.  16.  I  saw  ray  heart  was  not  prepared  to  die.  beeause  I 
had  not  studied  to  wean  ray  heart  from  the  world ;  but  1  saw, 
and  sought,  (1.)  The  glory  of  it;  (2.)  The  rest  and  peace  of 
it;  {3.}  The  joy  of  iL  When  llie  truth  is,  I  should.  (1.)  See  a' 
greater  gkiry  and  honor  of  the  Father  in  lieaven,  and  be  weaned 
from  thai.  (2.)  1  should  seek  rest  there  only.  (3-)  I  should 
joy  with  that  joy  only.  O  Lord,  help  me  so  to  do,  and  lo  i>ray 
for  it,  and  study  it  dtuly  I  For  what  are  the  glory,  peace,  rest, 
joy  of  tJie  world,  a  creature,  a  perishing  thing,  lo  that  of  a  God  ? 

Fih.  23.  On  bed  I  considered  how  sweetly  the  Lord  was  some- 
timet  with  meTand  H>  bow  I  should  preserve  that  spirit  and  go 
forward.  But  1  saw  that  any  liille  business,  a  tittle  forgulful- 
ness,  set  Christ's  work  backward  again,  whicE  was  sad  to  tne. 

Feb.  23.  At  night,  after  lecture,  I  saw  my  vileness,  and  saw 
1  was  not  to  seek  myscU'  in  prayer;  and  hence  the  Lord  made 
me  see  nothing  but  shame  to  belong  to  me.     And  hence,  praying 


\ 


L 


i 


i  400         MEDiTATfONS  Asn  sPiRrrrAL  expkkiexces. 

for  ihe  chun^h,  I  a»kei  mj  mxiI  whether  ihwe  prayers  coulil  Etff 
heard  ;  and  I  found  an  answer.  "  Tbc  Lonl  will  bear  t)ie  pmjt^r 
t>t  ibe  ttiimble,  will  not  despise  iheir  crj^  which  Jid  sweetly 
ehwr  my  heart,  to  stc  mj  soul  bailt  on  «ui.-L  promises  as  David 
£d  usnnllj  comfort  )iiinself  withal.  For  I  cr; ;  for  I  Imsi  in 
thee  i  for  I  am  destiiule :  '■  He  will  hear  the  cry  rf  the  huinlile.'* 
Feb.  2-t.  I  saw  how  npt  I  wn§  to  think  myself  somMhing ; 
and  [he  Lord  put  me  on  humbling  work,  to  see  I  was  worse  than 
nothing,  nni]  loseek  no  ulher  advunccmeol  or  honorbut  merry,  if 
I  might  find  thnt ;  which  I  thought  was  a  great,  yet  boly  aiobiiion. 
I  March  2.  1  was  rasi  down  with  the  sight  of  our  nuworlhiness 
in  thi^  churcli,  deserving  to  bi>  utterly  wasted ;  but  the  Lord  fitli^d 
ny  heart  with  a  spirit  of  prayer,  not  ooty  lo  desire  small  things, 
but,  with  a  boly  boldness,  to  desire  great  things  for  God's  people 
here,  and  for  myself;  viz.,  that  I  might  live  to  sec  all  breaches 
mode  up,  and  the  glory  of  th«  I^ord  upon  ns,  and  that  I  might 
not  die.  bin  lire  to  shtm  forth  God's  glory  to  this  and  ibe  chil- 
I  dren  of  the  next  generation.  /  And  so  I  arose  from  prayer 
Hmh  some  confidence  of  an  answer  ;  (1.  )  Because  I  saw  Christ 
put  it  into  my  heart  to  ask  ;  (2.)  Because  be  was  true  to  hear 

March  13.  I  pur|>oecd  to  walk  daily  more  closely  with  GoJ, 
according  lo  the  rule. 

March  15.  The  Lord  let  in  mnch  light.  Blany  sweet  ttutbs 
I  wrote  down.  lie  mode  me  also  cast  the  church  on  Chrisi'a 
care  and  love,  as  being  his  chnrge.  I  resolved  to  bang  fast 
about  Christ,  and  lo  love  him  dearly,  because  of  his  goodness,  as 
knowing  none  like  him. 

March  17.  I  began  lo  question  whether  Chiistians  generally 
were  so  good  a^  ihey  seemed  to  be.  I  thought,  1.  Tliey  were 
not  so  good  as  the  Lord  would  have  tlicna  to  be,  from  two  argu- 
ments :  (1.)  From  the  want  of  assurance  generiJly  among  men, 
which  argues  God  is  angry  when  he  doth  not  appear  acfording 
BB  he  dolb  use  to  do  lo  them  who  love  his  name  :  (2.)  Beraus« 
men  are  belter,  generally,  under  the  rod  than  under  mercy.  Wo 
see  what  an  admirablu  spirit  there  is  under  isore  afHirtions,  which 
men  can  not  attain  to  or  keep,  but  then.  Now,  2.  1  thought 
that  men  were  not  so  good  as  they  appeared  to  bo,  (1.)  Because 
very  few  are  recovered  to  llial  frame,  before  death,  which  God 
will  bring  them  lo  thai  get  assurance.  Few  recover  holioets  by 
mercy,  or  feci  the  eiemal  good  of  sore  nflliciions.  (S.)  Be- 
cause many  eminent  profcMwrs  fall  off  and  fall  away.  If  ibey 
continue  long,  by  some  trial  or  other  they  are  made  transparent. 
(3.)  Because,  though  others  of  less  holiness  may  be  upright. 


■e  like  them  ihat  be  bo.  ._ 

id  acted,  it  spaa  nothing  but  de'  i 
and  affections  acted,  there  was  I 
n  do  I  need  Christ  to  live  in  me  iV 
)  and  light,  he  nill  not  lean   to 


AND   s'l'intTUAL    EXPERIENCES.  401 

yet  for  ua  that  lutve  raoi%  means,  not  to  be  more  holj  and  hum- 
ble, nay,  not  so  humble  and  holy  as  those  lhat  want  means, 
can  not  stand  with  upright nes^,  ^nerally.  My  counsel  therefore 
is.  Let  all  take  heed  of  being  led  by  example  of  men,  and  think- 
ing, We  are  good  because  we  are  like  them  that  be  » 

March  18.     I  saw,  if  my  mind  a      '  ' 
ceirSnTTeTusion.     If  my  will  anc 
nothing  but  dead  worksk.  0,  how  di 
Yet  I  saw,  if  a  man  bath  eyea  and  light, 
another  to  lead  him  and  carry  him,  as  when  he  wants  both, 
here,  I  saw  the  Lord  made  me  live  by  faith,  by  making  me  feel 
a  want  of  both,  to  distrust  myself,  and  trust  more  unto  the  Lord. 

4fcrcA  13.  After  a  day  of  fasL  As  I  saw  in  the  day  thatJ 
I  had  causa  to  weep  exceedingly  for  my  sin,  boeauBe  it  did  lie  so  i 
heavy,  not  only  on  the  Father,  but  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Chr'isl,  that 
they  were  so  wroth  with  me  that  they  lijd  their  faces  ;  and  hence 
I  saw  that  sin  lay  heavy  on  their  hearts,  and  lhat  therefore  they 
were  not  only  angry,  but  left  me  to  my  sin,  which  caused  some 
sorrow.  So,  afler  the  day,  I  saw  and  said,  as  pride  was  my  sin, 
■o  sliame  should  be  my  portion.  And  many  fears  I  had  of  Eli's 
punishment  for  not  reproving  sin  in  Mr.  £.  when  I  eai*  it,  and 
that  sharply.  And  here  I  saw  that  God  may,  and  doth  sometimes, 
make  some  one  godly  man  a  terror  and  dreadful  eitample  of  out- 
ward miseries,  that  all  others  may  fear  that  be  godly,  lest  hu  com- 
mands should  be  slighted,  as  he  did  by  Eli.  And  ao  I  saw  the  Lordl 
miglil  justly  never  let  my  sins  be  purged  away  by  sacrifice.      _J 

Miireh  iQ.  My  heart  waa  much  affected  with  the  riches  of 
God's  mercy,  in  reading  Jer.  xixvi.  3,  that  the  very  ibreateiUDg 
pf  God  to  destroy  is  to  make  men  return,  and  pray,  and  so  live, 
which  is  deep  and  dcnr  mercy  ;  and  that  the  Lord  deals  ihiu 
willi  such  OS  arc  almost  hopeless.  Yet,  ITlberc  be  any  hope,  the 
LonI  piliuih ;  it  may  be  they  will  return  i  which  made  me  that 
morning  in  prayer  to  pour  out  my  heart  in  true  and  plain  ctm- 
fesiion  of  my  vileness,  which  I  knew,  with  groans  for  graco, 

1641.  April 'i  and  3.  I  was  earnest  in  prayer  for  God's 
favor  and  love,  and  doubting  of  it  for  myself  and  others,  be- 
cause I  looked  to  God's  secret  decree  :  at  last  I  saw  it  was  God's 
decree  in  the  gospEl,  and  his  will,  that  whosoever  comes  to  Christ 
should  have  lite  and  favor,  and  so  answer  to  all  prayers  for  him- 
self and  others  ;  which  gave  me  »om»  sweet  assurance. 

AAcr  this,  I  saw  the  Lord  might  deny  all  our  prayers  for  out- 
ward tilings.     I  begged,  therefore,  for  mercy ;  and  that  being 
1,'ranted,  1  luid  an  end  of  all  my  suits  and  requests  for  myself 
and  ollicrs  ;  and  there  my  heart  stayed. 
3-1  • 


I 


i 


402 


aUd  si'inixrAL  experiekces. 


Afiril  i  and  5.     On    Sabbatli   morning   (April   i)  I  t 
Lord  frowning  on  me  in  several  iirovidenL-ea. 

1.  That  he  wrs  hid  from  me.  whose  fnce  else  would  shiiu 
brighter  on  me  ihnn  Wn  thousand  suns. 

2.  Tlial  he  was  angry  with  my  prayers,  and  had  been,  s 
ii  still  angry. 

3.  Nothing;  I  did,  nay,  none  under  my  shadow,  prospered. 

4.  I  saw  I  wanted  wisdom  for  my  place,  to  guide  ottiera. 

5.  I  saw  I  wanted  a  spirit  of  life  within  to  make  me  exem-!| 
pl«ry  without, 

C.  I  saw  I  wanted  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  I 
woa  not  mighty  in  word  and  spirit,  and  in  adminislrations. 

7.  I  saw  a  secret  eye  I  had  to  my  name  in  all  I  did ;  for 
which  I  judged  myself  worthy  of  death,  hut  I  did  not   grow   | 
weaned  from  all  created  glory,  from  honor,  wisdom,  esteem  of  ■( 

April  5.     I  saw  I  did  not  remember  the  sins  of  my  youth  g 
nay,  the  sins  of  one  day  I  forgot  the  next  dny ;  and  so  I  spenT 

I  was  on  my  bed  praying  this  morning,  snd  the  Lord  helped 
me  to  pour  out  my  heart  before  him ;  and  1  sftw  I  could  plead 
nothing  in  myself  in  regard  of  any  worthiness  and  grace,  or  anj 
thing  in  regard  of  God's  providence  or  promise,  but  only  hu 
good  pleasure.  I  saw  it  was  not,  if  I  will,  but  if  he  will ;  then 
I  should  see,  and  believe,  and  live.  And  here  I  hung,  pleading 
how  good,  how  pitiful  and  tender,  how  free  this  will  w 
it  stood  immovable  til]  it  moved  itself  toward  me.  1  saw  God'a  ^ 
will  was  that  I  should  come ;  but  I  was  afraid  of  mine  own  a 
tivity  and  working,  and  hence  pleaded,  Lord,  turn  me,  draw  n 
and  1  shall  come !  and  so  I  begged  for  my  wife,  child,  friendi%^ 
church,  with  earnestness,  that  the  Lord  would  give  i 
mercy,  and  not  suffer  his  name  to  be  jiolluted  by  us  and  by  our 
debts,  though  he  should  not  honor  himself  by  us ;  and  if  mercy 
would  make  us  poor  and  vilchlcdsed  be  it ;  and  if  it  would  lead 
ua,  and  carry  us  to  some  other  place,  and  cover  and  overshadoir  .| 
us,  blessed  be  it.  And  I  had  secret  hints  that  these  prayei 
from  our  wants  were  but  preimrations  for  future  mercies,  aa 
that  we  should  see  his  glory  in  the  land  of  the  living.  Then  I  _ 
began  to  arise  alter  pruyer,  without  faith,  as  I  thought,  yet  leav- 
ing  all  to  his  grace.  But  the  Lord  allowed  me  how  he  had  come 
to  me  and  stirred  up  prayers,  (1.)  According  to  his  own  will;  (2.) 
For  his  own  ends.  For  though  I  sought  myself,  yet  seeing  thin,  I 
entreated  the  Lord  to  glorify  himself  and  make  us  like  unto  hiauj 
And  then  I  saw  how  great  a  sin  it' was  to  moke  feelin 


3od-ft 
n  itO'^H 

endi^^H 
1  bnt^ 
y  our 

Head 
lodov^^H 

henr^l 


MEDITATIONS   AND   SPIRITUAL   EXPKRIENCKS.  403 

and  cause  of  my  faith.  And  I  also  thought  how  exceedingly 
I  should  honor  Jesus  Christ,  if  I  did  believe  before  I  felt ;  how^ 
I  should  honor  the  truth  of  Christ,  who  hath  said  he  is  one  that 
hears  prayers.  I  saw  also  a  secret  distemper  of  my  heart,  how 
I  grew  faint  in  prayer,  contrary  to  the  rule,  (Luke  xviii.,)  viz., 
not  only  by  discouragement,  but  also  by  encouragement,  and  en- 
largement and  affections  in  prayer/ 

April  10.  I  had  many  thoughts  which  came  in  to  press  me  to 
give  myself  to  Christ  Jesus,  which  was  the  dear,  best  thing  I  had. 
And  I  saw,  if,  when  I  gave  myself  to  Christ,  he  would  give  him- 
self to  me  again,  that  it  would  be  a  wonderful  change,  to  have 
the  bottomless  fountain  of  all  good  communicated  to  me.  Thus 
two  or  three  days  I  was  exercbed  about  this.  And  at  last, 
(which  was  the  day  before  I  fell  sick  on  the  Sabbath,)  in  my 
study,  I  was  put  to  a  double  question :  (1.)  Whether  Christ 
would  take  me,  if  I  gave  myself  to  him  ;  (2.)  Whether  I  might 
take  him  again  upon  it.  And  I  resolved  to  seek  an  answer  to 
both  from  (xod,  in  meditation.  So  after  dinner  on  the  Saturday,  — 

April  11.     I  gave  myself  up  to  the  Lord  thus :  — 

1.  I  acknowledged  all  I  had  or  was  was  his  own,  (as  David 
spake  of  their  offerings  ;)  and  so  I  acknowledged  him  the  owner. 

2.  I  resigned  not  only  my  goods  and  estate,  but  child,  wife, 
church,  and  self  unto  the  Lord,  out  of  love,  as  being  the  best  and 
dearest  things  which  I  have. 

3.  I  prized  it  as  the  greatest  mercy,  if  the  Lord  would  take 
them,  and  so  desired  the  Lord  to  do  it. 

4.  I  desired  him  to  take  all  for  a  threefold  end :  (1.)  To  do  with 
me  what  he  would ;  (2.)  To  love  me  ;  (3.)  To  honor  himself  by 
me,  and  by  all  mine. 

5.  Because  there  is  apt  to  be  a  secret  reservation  in  our  seem- 
ing desires,  that  the  Lord  should  do  all ;  and  the  soul  gives  up 
itself  to  the  Lord,  but  it  is  that  tlie  Lord  may  please  my  will, 
and  love  me ;  and  if  he  doth  not  please  me,  then  the  heart  dies : 
hence  I  gave  up  my  will  also  into  the  Lord's  hand,  to  do  with  it 
what  he  please. 

6.  I  gave  up  also  my  whorish  lusts  ;  but  that  he  might  take 
them  away. 

7.  That  he  would  keep  me  also  from  all  sin  and  evil. 

Thus  I  gave  myself  to  the  Lord ;  but  then  I  questioned,  (2.) 
Will  the  Lord  take  me  ? 

Answer  1.  I  saw  that  the  Lord  desired  and  commanded  me 
to  give  him  my  heart. 

2.  I  saw  that  this  was  pleasing  to  him,  as  the  contrary  dis- 
pleasing. * 


I 


S.    Is: 

toulJ  with  n 


!  llmt  it  u 


I  fur  him  lo  tikke  lue,  and  ilu  wbst  t 


I 


tbcu  1  dill  quesiioD,  Will  the  Lord  retxive  me,  and  I^ko  1 
me  to  do  me  good  evtria^Iingly  ?  Because  1  ^ve  up  my  friends  | 
Olid  the  wLoio  vliurcli  to  tlit:  Lord  ulso,  aa  1  did  mjrseir.  And  J 
will  tlie  Lord  uke  all  ihttm  ? 

Ant.  Here  1  anw  ihe  great  privilege  of  men,  and  wisdom 
God,  in  bid  commiuiiig  aome  mou'«  souls  \a  the  eare  of  one  godlf  1 
mtui,  of  a  public  spirit ;  becuuse  be,  Moiiei^-like,  commends  thei%  I 
gives  them,  returns  tbem  all  la  the  Lord  a^niu,  and  so  a  world  | 
of  );oud  ia  communii^ated  for  his  sake. 

3d  question  y.a»,  Uut  might  I  bdte  the  Lord  ?  And  ray  answer  J 
wus.  If  tbe  iKird  did  apprehend  and  take  Die  to  himself,  then  I J 
might  take  bim,  for  I  bail  no  olber  to  lay  hold  on. 

April  13.     I  questioned  wliellier  the  Lord  could  pardon  somttil 
siiw,  or  would.     And  I  was  made  to  cast  nij  ej'e  upon  the  gg»>  J 
pel,  (Uora.  iii,  25,)  "  Whom  God  halh  set  out  totw  a  propitialion,V 
.   through  taitb  ia  his  blood."     This  faith  I  saw  to  be  tiuthing  elsai 
but  receiving  God's  kindness  and  special  favor  with  tay  wbole  J 
beiirt,  and  »o  was  quite  opposite  to  doing.   And  herein  methougbt 
the  exceeding  ricbus  of  God's  grace  appeared  —  tluU  he  should 
■low,  after  all  wrougs  dune  ngaiusi  him,  offer  sjieciitl  love,  and 
require  me  only  to  lake  it,  and  possession  of  it.     And  so  1  fell 
tay  heart  receive  it  willi  my  wbole  spirit,  witb  all  my  heart.    Oulj    ' 
I  questioned.  Will  Ihe  Lord  receive  me  with  his  hand  agaiUf.fl 
when  I  roeeive  it?     And  I  saw  that  tlie  Lord  had  bound  bim-  ] 
self  by    promise  so  U>  do,  and  I  prayed  timl  bo  would  do  i 
to  me. 

April  14.  When  I  was  at  prayer,  (having  on  my  bed  ihall 
morning  seen  how  sweet  a  thing  it  was  lu  be  ever  near  ibe  Lori],! 
and  thereby  filled  with  holy,  sweet  alicctioud  unlo  Uod,)  I  saw- 
and  I  sorrowed  a  little  fur  my  sins  and  vile  nature,  wbich  v 
ever  carrying  and  baling  me  from  Gud,  the  fountuiu  of  bU.  I 
gctodueas  and  love  ;  the  blessedatss  of  which,  when  any  see,  ibey  1 
tutu  not  but  mourn  for  their  ^in.  1 

April  15.     When  I  looked  over  the  duy,  I  saw  how  I  fell  short  J 
of  God  and  Christ,  and  buw  I  hiid  spent  one  hour  uuprolltablj,  fl 
And  why?     liecuuse,  [hough  the  thing  I  did  was  good,  yet  bu-^ 
cauae  I  intended  not  God  in  it,  as  my  last  end,  and  did  not  set 
my  Vulfei  before  mo,  and  so  set  mysdl'  to  please  God,  therefore 
1  was  unprotilttble ;  and  so  I  desired  to  be  Iiumbled  for  it.     And 
,so  I  saw  tbe  nature  of  fruitfulness,  tliut  it  cuusistcd  ia  acting  for 
God  wiib  singleness  of  heart. 

I  observed  ray  heart  in  walking  according  lo  rule ;  but  I  saw  I 


HEDITJlTIOKg   AJfD    EPUtlTrAL   EXPERIENCES.  405 

it  fall  otr.  And  thii<  I  leaml,  that  when  n  man  sets  hiiiise]f  to 
walk  by  rulu,  lie  will  either  say,  I  cau  not,  or  else  will  not,  but 
hated  the  same. 

April  IC.  I  saw  my  eiample  did  (1.)  teach,  (2.)  encourage, 
(3.)  counsel,  (4.)  confirm  oibers  in  sin. 

April  18.  On  Sabbath,  I  found  my  heart  full  of  enmity,  aad 
I  saw  it  was  Satan  that  filled  it ;  when  I  should  with  fear  have 
heard  what  God  spake,  and  witli  cAra  received  the  word,  and 
kept  it  in  my  heart,  by  which  Christ  himself  comes  in ;  as  I  saw 
bj'  temptation  Satan  entered  into  wicked  men's  hearts.  But  the 
Ijord  humbled  my  soul  in  some  measure,  and  made  me  desire 
pardon  and  healing  of  Satan's  wound  by  his  mercy  in  Christ. 

April  25.  I  saw  God  would  accept  me  for  Christ's  sake ;  but 
I  feared  much  I  might  Dot  take  Christ  arighl.  Hence  this  came 
to  my  mind,  that  to  take  Christ  because  he  commauda  me  so  to 
do  i^  no  presumpliuu. 

(1.)  Because  litis  honors  him.  (2.)  Because  he  that  will  sub- 
mit lo  one  command  thus  will  submit  to  all.  (3.)  Because  I  sow, 
that  he  I  hut  lets  in  Chri-it's  command  into  his  heart  receiver 
Christ  1  and  he  that  receives  one  command  thus  receives  nil 
Christ,  and  all  the  commands  of  Christ.  .— 

^fitH-Jiit.  While  I  was  at  the  word,  I  saw  I  hud  n  wild] 
heart,  which  was  as  hard  to  stand  and  abide  before  the  presence  ol'  I 
God  in  an  ordinance  as  a  bird  before  any  man.  I  saw,  also,  Christ] 
will  do  what  we  will,  if  we  do  but  will.  The  church  begs  allr 
and  Christ  doth  all ;  because  she  is  poor,  and  he  is  rich  ;  she  la 
weak,  and  he  ii  strong.    Prayer  sets  Christ  on  upon  his  church's 


April  28.  I  finding  my  heart  rest  on  Christ,  and  peaceably 
quieted  there,  hence,  when  I  saw  the  outward  good  things  which 
othera  did  enjoy,  I  was  sweetly  comforted  with  this :  Yet  1  have 
Christ,  and  Christ  is  mine,  others  have  other  things. 

April  29.  I  saw  this  distemper,  (when  I  saw  my  sudden 
anger,)  vix.,  that  I  was  troubled  at  that  which  crossed  me,  not 
Christ,  and  pleased  only  with  that  which  pleased  myself,  and  not 
Christ  Jesus.  For,  1.  In  all  wrongs  and  crosses  there  is  a  double 
cross:  (1.)  That  which  crossetb  me;  (2.)  That  which  crueseth 
Christ.  2.  In  all  good  things  there  is,  (1.)  Somewhat  that 
pleaselhme;  (2.)  Somewhat  that  pleaseth  Christ.  My  heart  iti 
pleased  or  troubled  as  things  please  or  trouble  me  without  my 
having  any  due  regard  to  Christ ;  and  that  b  roy  sin.  •- 

Jjj.jY  ■it\  J  qnealioned  whether  any  sin  was  a  greater  cvill 
tlian  unbelief.  And  1  saw  that  union  lo  Christ  was  my  greatest  I 
good :  hence  unbelief  is  a  greater  sin  than  any  other  sin.     And\ 


L 


J 


MEI>ITAT10SS   AND    SPIRlTrAL   EXPKRtEXCES. 


here  T  saw  God's  ricli  gmce,  that  had  not  only  miule  my  disunion' 
from  Christ  by  unbelief  n  mi:«ry,  but  also  the  grentest  sin,  aa' 
I>eiug  cross  to  his  t»minand ;  and  hereby  mj  heart  was  affected.' 
And  I  eaw  that  whatever  my  aio  was,  yet  now  there  was  no  sin 
like  disunion  from  Christ  by  unbelief ;  and  ihaX  I  ought  not  to  com- 
mit the  greatest  sin  in  departing  from  Christ,  because  of  leas 
sins  against  the  law.  For  it  woa  an  nnspeakable  mercy  to  make 
my  union  (o  Christ  the  greatest  good,  my  greatest  good.  1.  Be- 
cause I  can  never  in  this  life  perfectly  obey  and  cleave  to  tite 
will  of  Christ. 

2.  Because  if  that  be  blessedness,  then  once  blessed  always 
blessed ;  so  once  united,  ever  united.  So  I  saw  the  gospel,  in 
commanding  me  to  believe,  did  command  me  to  partake  of  the 
greatest  Llessednesa ;  and  who  wuuld  not  be  glad  of  that  ? 
Adam's  happiness  was,  to  do  God's  will ;  but  ours  to  cleave  to 
God  iu  Christ. 

May  5._^  I  saw  I  was  without  all  sense,  as  well  a^  sight  of 
God,  estranged  from  the  lite  of  God.  For  I  saw  I  respectwl  man 
more  than  God,  to  please  him  rather  limn  God.  And  why  bo  T 
Because  I  was  sensible  of  the  presence  of  man.  So,  if  I  bad 
committed  any  Bio  against  man,  I  should  be  ashamed ;  but  I  blush 
not  before  God.  I  was  not  sensible  of  his  glory,  majesty,  beauty, 
and  love ;  and  hence  I  had  no  sense  of  sin,  because  I  had  no 
TeSnse  of  God.  And  bcnce/with  sadness  I  saw  my  widow-liks' 
jseparation  and  disunion  from  my  husband  and  my  God,  and  that* 
|we  two  were  now  parted,  who  had  been  nearer  together  once 
And  I  saw  (though  not  deeply)  what  my  initiuities  arc,  to  pref«r 
the  creature  above  the  Creator,  blessed  tbrever.    And  as  the  life' 

Maif  6.  The  Lord  Jesus  revealed  himself  thus  lo  me,  viz., 
tlul  as  he  was  mercy  and  love  to  all  meek,  humbled,  believing- 
sinners  that  came  to  him,  so  he  was  fire  and  wrath  against  aU 
obstinate  sinners,  that  would  not  bow  to  him,  but  go  on  in  their 
sin.  And  so  I  satisfied  that  doubt :  when  my  heart  said,  Why 
shall  I  be  troubled  for  sin,  seeing  God  in  Christ  takes  it  not  much 
to  heart,  but  forgive^  boars,  pardons,  and  he  was  nil  love,  and  no 
wrath  in  him  ?  I  replied  again.  He  is  so  to  all  meek  ones,  that 
stop,  stoop,  and  yield.  But  he  takes  the  least  sin  exceedingly  to 
heart,  and  very  ill,  when  men  will  go  on  in  it.  My  heart  was 
much  comforted  with  the  knowledge  of  this,  and  wrought  lo  some 
more  fear  and  love  lo  him,  and  resolved  to  give  up  myself  to 
him.  I  saw  also  the  greatness  of  sin,  to  strike  him  hy  it,  who  is 
the  glory  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  who  takes  it  exceeding  ill  ' 
my  hands,  if  I  do,  or  especially  persist  in  it.     The  Lo^  a) 


I 


I 


MEDtTATIOXa    AND    BriBITUAL   KSrERIESCES.  W7 

preased  my  spirit  to  please  Christ  in  every  thing;  not  in  ioiiiq 
thingii  only,  but  to  be  ever  pleasing  him.  I  saw  nlso  that  I  was 
not  in  good  earnest  desirous  that  Christ  would  tukc  av/ay  sin  by 
the  loss  of  name  or  goods,  etc. 

JUai/  7.  I  saw  in  prayer,  that  before  I  or  any  other  could 
ae?k  or  serve  the  Lord,  1  was  to  set  up  the  Lonl  in  tlic  llirone 
of  my  mind  and  heart,  both  in  bis  greatness  and  in  his  goodness 
to  me.  And  the  Lord  gave  me  some  glimpse  of  both  that  morn' 
ing ;  yet  I  saw  that  all  was  lillle  enough  to  make  me  seek  him 
and  serve  hinj.  For  I  saw  ray  heart  averse  from  his  will,  and 
that  ihe  Lord  must  be  exceeding  great  and  dear  in  my  heart,  or 
else  it  would  never  seek  and  serve  him.  And  so  I  considered,  If 
it  be  BO  hard  to  seek  the  Lord  when  he  is  set  up,  how  diffieult  to 
seek  or  serve  him  when  he  is  cast  down  1  Surely  if  there  be 
any  services  or  seekings  without  setting  up  the  iJord,  they  are 

I  saw  also  how  great  my  sin  would  be,  not  to  be  acfiuainied 
and  grow  farailiar  with  the  Lord,  when  he  haih  humbied  himself 
into  my  fl<;sh  for  that  end,  and  to  make  a  near  conjunction  be- 
twecn  hiinxelf  and  roe.  For  we  are  joined  to  man,  who  is  flcab 
of  our  flesh,  sooner  than  with  an  angel,  or  with  God.  When  th« 
devil  comes  to  mnlfp  p  "'""r'anli  he  a'utumes  the  slinpe  of  a  mao<  ' 
And  here  I  saw  that  our  union  is  lii'st  to  the  human  nature,  an^ 
Fo  lo  iho  divine;  because  the  divine  nature  comes  down  into  lAfl 
human,  that  it  may  be  a  mean  of  conjunction  of  the  soul  to  God, 
and  of  Uod  to  the  soul.  And  I  saw,  that  as  we  are  sooner  eon-, 
joined  to  man,  so  God  in  man  is  sooner  conjoined,  or  he  more  easi^ 
conjoins  himself  to  us,  who  is  filled  with  real  human  Irawels  for  that 
end,  and  hath  suD'ered  that  no  justice  might  stop  him  in  his  work. 

I  oonsidered,  that  when  prayer  is  vehement  for  a  blessing,  and 
our  humiliation  and  breaking  from  sin  is  suitable  to  our  affection, 
God  ever  answers  them.  Hence  let  men  observe,  if  they  are 
earnest  for  any  outward  blessing,  and  their  hearts  are  stirred  up 
so  as  to  believe  they  shall  have  it,  let  them  see  if  their  humilia- 
tion was  proportionable.  Hence  also  it  is,  that  when  the  Lord 
denies  us,  it  is  ever  to  Immbla  us,  which  is  mercy :  and  we  shall 
see  that  we  have  most  need  of  that.  Aud  hence  also,  when 
humbled,  we  may  re«p  the  fruit  of  prayers  made  many  years 

Un  Saturduy,  May  H,  at  night,  I  saw  union  to  (>od  to  be  the 
greatest  good ;  and  my  sin  in  not  cleaving  wholly  lo  him  with  alt 
my  heart,  ihe  height  of  all  sin,  from  Hosea  x.  1.  Hence  in 
prayer  1  saw  sin  my  greatest  evil.  1.  Ileeauso  it  had  separated 
me  from  tlie  greatest  good.     2.  Because  it  kept  ray  heart  with  u 


I 
I 


408  MEliITATIOSS   AND    SPIRITfAL 

secret  lave  lo  it  from  returning  agam  to   him,  aa  my  great* 
good.     S.    Nny,  I  saw  that  it  mndc    me  make  niv  dealli  Bi_, 
lifo;  tU.,  neglect  of  living  and  acting  for  God  my  very  Ufa ^ 
and  my  war  with  God  my  peace ;  and  my  damnation   my  c 
Tatjon.     Hence  I  mciumed. 

jtfa.V  12.  When  I  was  stirred  up  to  give  thanks  for  mercies,  1 1 
was  put  to  ft  sljuid:  Why  not  for  evils  as  well?  seeing  boUi'I 
were  from  God's  wilt.  And  the  Lord  put  it  into  my  lieart  M  J 
seelliat  it  is  because  God'R  cliiefcst,  dearest  attribute  is  boaored.l 
more  that  way.  And  so  I  saw  I  was  not  to  be  tliankftil  becaoM'  | 
the  blessing  suited  me,  but  because  God's  dearest  aud  i 
bploved  attribute  of  grace  and  mercy  was  glorified  hereby. 
r  I  saw  also  hotf  one  sin  begat  another  in  this  country,  and  wa'1 
'  did  not  eease  to  increase  therein.  And  hence  I  saw  what  jmt'l 
cause  the  Lord  bad  lo  strike  ua  with  sore  and  great  wan! 
and  yet  how,  if  sin  were  repented  of  by  preaching  agninst  it,  ll 
I  Loni  would  return.  So  I  saw  it  my  duty  lo  preach  against  them. 
^"^Mag  18.  In  prayer  1  was  aabatned  thati  should  not  a 
Ijord,  as  I  had  done  my  lust  and  my  sin. 

1  siiw  abo  Ihat  God  wiis  beforehand  with  men.  J.  In  that 
lie  had  reconciled  the  world  lo  himwlf.  2.  That  he  did  be- 
seech tliem  to  be  reconciled.  Now  I  saw  that  all  the  work 
did  lie  upon  man.  For  if  Uie  party  otfendcd  Rrst  seek  to  be 
friends,  I  need  not  call  in  question  his  willingness,  but  my  own 
wicked  maliciousness.  Hers  I  saw,  that  if  it  be  so  with  nuut, 
and  he  do  not  come  in  to  him  that  seeks  for  favor,  it  is  either,  ( I.) 
from  contempt ;  or,  (2.)  anger,  quarreling  at  hie  dealing ;  or,  (3>|« 
malice ;  yet  the  Lord  wraps  up  all  in  one  word,  enmily- 

Mag  21.    In  prayer  I  desired  two  things.     (1.)  That 
only  might  be  sweet.     (3.)  That  his  will  might  be   miue. 
which  time  it  came  into  my  heart.  If  you  sincerely  desire  these  * 
two,  you  will  desire  to  be  in  heaven,  where  these  two  are  fully 
perfected.    For  I  saw,  though  death  was  naturally  terrible,  yet  I 
secretly  rejoiced  lo  think  of  that  infinite  mercy,  when  God  alone 
shall  fill  my  soul  with  his  immediate  infinitenese. 

On  the  Sabbath,  May  2il,  I  came  to  a  serious  consideralioi 
what  sins  were  between  God  and  me,  lhat  eclipsed  his  low 
And  1  saw  my  evils,  and  nssolved  wiih  more  care  to  walk  »  ' ' 
him,  and  to  be  humbled  for  evils  past.  And  I  found  my  heart,  ii 
looking  on  those  duties  I  was  to  do.  to  be  afraid  lest  1  should 
fail  in  the  performance  of  them.  And  so  I  saw,  if  I  laid  tho 
'  evidence  of  my  salvation  on  my  works,  it  would  be  various  and 
■uncertain  as  my  gracious  works  were  ;  and  yet,  on  the  other  side,,!  ^ 
aaw  tlial  if  I  did  not  walk  holily  in  all  things  before  God,f  J 


,he»e 
fully 
ret  I 

iliOK^I 


MKmTATio: 


SD    SriHlTUAL    EXrKBlt! 


409 


should  not.  I  could  not  huvc  a&surance  of  my  good  eslale. 
So  thut  here  1  vaa  ut  eome  stand ;  and  in  musing,  thus  the 
Iwenty-fifth  psalm  came  to  mind,  wherein  God  promiseth  the 
TDUek  and  humble  to  show  them  his  covenant.  And  bo  I  saw 
the  Lord  at  thai  lime  revealing  hia  covenant  unio  me,  on  whii^h 
I  was  to  build  my  assurance,  not  on  my  performance  of  that 
covenant  by  my  own  atrenglh  and  graces.  Now,  God's  covenant 
I  saw  thus  :  — 

1.  I  Ban  him  mil  me  to  himself,  that  he  might  make  good  hia 
everlasting  covenant :  so  I  came. 

2.  I  saw  that  his  covenant  was,  that  he  would  pardon,  heal, 
and  work  all  the  works  of  his  people. 

3.  I  saw  be  would  do  all  (his  for  me,  if  I  would  by  faith  de- 
pend and  rest  upon  the  grace  of  his  covenant  so  to  do. 

4.  This  dependence  on  him  lo  fulflU  his  covenant  to  saitctifyi 
quicken,  humble  me,  etc,  I  took  to  be  my  evidence  of  love, 
though  I  should   fail   in  duties,  or  God  should  leave  me  justly  to 

May  29.  I  woe  musing  on  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  and  I  con- 
aidereiili  as  men  hod  their  voice,  so  that  which  Ho  apnke.  whose 
voice  is  most  sweet,  is  witnessed  to  the  hearts  of  his  [>eople  by 
the  still  voice  of  his  Spirit 

I  saw  also  that  Christ  lives,  and  liaih  overcome  death,  ami 
hence  is  ready  lo  quicken  all  his  he  died  for,  not  lo  a  life  dif- 
ferent from  his  own,  but  with  his  own  life,  and  brings  them  to  it, 
which  was  mighty  through  God;  and  this  was  a  sweet  support 
to  mo  in  prayer,  when  I  felt  a  need  of  redemption  from  all  sin 
by  this  life.  So  I  saw  that  God  did  live,  when  he  spoke,  when 
he  ((uii'ltcned,  and  did  work  ;  and  he  weis  then  a  living  God  lo 
me,  when  I  ht:ui  bis  voice  and  felt  his  works  upon  me  and 
in  me ;  and  lo  want  these  was  to  be  estranged  from  the  life  of 
Go.]. 

May  30.  On  Sahbaih  day,  afler  sermOn,  I  saw  ibat  my  ein 
was,  (1.)  To  look  on  my  ministry's  fauh^,  and  be  discouraged  i 
(i.)  To  look  on  their  good,  aiid  be  pulfed  up;  {3.)  If  all  was 
done  well,  then  to  look  upon  them  as  if  tliey  were  Absalom-Iike ; 
that  from  the  head  lo  Ilie  foot  of  ihem  there  was  no  blemish. 
But  I  loathed  myself  for  ii,  and  prayed  for  everlasting  blessing 
on  I  hem.  ^_ 

J^ne.  3.  When  tidings  came  to  me  of  the  casting  away  of  Mrs.j 
Ealon,  I  did  learn  this  les<uin :  whenever  any  affliction  came,l 
not  to  rub  up  my  former,  old,  true  bumilialioti,  but  to  be  moral 
humbled.  For  1  saw  1  was  very  apt  lo  do  the  first.  And  1 1 
blessed  God  for  the  sight  of  this  truth.  ^ 


410 


MEDITATIONS   AND   SriItlTrAL   EXPEBIEKCES. 


June  6,  On  llie  Sabbalh  I  desired  the  Lord  lo  bind  raf 
hnndj,  or  rather  cut  them  oft,  —  I  mean  my  vile  wiil  and  aBer- 
tions,  —  whereby  I  have  so  ofl  sniole  him.  And  1  saw  what 
good  reason  there  was  ihal,  as  1  hud  struck  the  Lord  with  my 
will,  now,  when  I  am  convinced  of  my  sin,  those  hands  should 
first  embrace  him  by  faith  that  have  smole  him,  and  that  I 
shonld  strike  myaeif  upon  my  thigh,  and  moiim  for  and  mortify 
my  sin  in  abusing  the  Lord. 

June  8.  I  saw  it  my  duly  to  be  and  live  in  every  place 
ns  Christ  in  this  world  ;  to  do  that  which  he  would  do.  and 
live  and  walk  as  he  would  walk,  tf  here  present.  1  John 
ii.  4,  "  We  ought  to  walk  as  he  walked  j  "  especially,  — ' 

1.  In  love.  2.  In  meekness.  And  my  heart  was  much  af- 
fecleil  with  this  truth.  And  my  heart  secretly  relented  to  think, 
that,  seeing  Christ  is  not  known, — 

1.  AVhat  glory  would  this  be  to  Christ !  ^^ 

2.  What  a  presence  of  Christ  would  there  be  in  this  place  1   '  ^| 

3.  What  sweet  pence  would  it  yield  me  when  I  came  to  ^f^^l 
if  I  should  live  thus  or  seek  to  do  so  1  O  Lord,  imprint  this  ■ 
image  upon  me,  and  give  the  Spirit  of  this  thy  Son  to  roe. 

June  12.  I  thought,  if  God  was  the  fountain  of  all  blessedness, 
that  then,  (1.)  My  sins  were  great  which  slopped  it  up,  thai  I  am 
eo  miserable,  and,  (2.)  That  I  was  the  more  miserable  lo  stand 
without,  end  hear  of  the  good  things  in  him,  and  laslo  them  not, 
enjoy  ibem  not. 

Jutit  13.  On  the  Sabbath,  being  weak  in  my  body  and  spirits, 
I  asked.  Can  God  make  use  of  sueh  a  poor  wretch  lo  preach  llie 
gospel  by?  And  I  considered  Paul.  (1.)  His  presence  was 
mean.  (2.)  His  ultcrance  weak.  (3.)  His  weakness  much. 
He  was  with  the  Thessalonians  in  much  weakoess ;  and  it  may 
be  meant  of  bodily  inlirmities,  as  well  as  bodily  persecutions. 
(4.)  The  doctrine  he  delivered  was  but  common  —  Hepent  and 
believe.  {5.)  lie  preached  this  in  no  wisdura  of  words,  but 
plainly;  and  yet  the  Lord,  accounting  him  faithful,  blessed  him. 
So  ihc  Lord  could  do  by  mc  most  weak. 

Jun^Vj.  I  saw  that,  as  by  Christ  1  had  access  to  ihe  Father,  so 
by  laiin  and  prayer  of  fuiih  1  had  access  to  Christ.  Again  I  saw 
how  miiny,  if  not  mogl,men  were  led  and  governed  by  certain  hu- 
mors. Ilencesomelimeelight.someiimeesad;  and  men  were  hence 
,  religious  in  liumor,  discouraged  also  by  the  humors  of  their  body. 
1  The  Lord  also  brought  my  soul  to  place  all  my  happiness  in 
being  one  in  and  with  Christ,  and  to  have  mind  and  heart  only 
placed  ou  him.  Hence  I  saw  this  was  heaven  on  earth.  But  I 
considered,  Wliy  should  I  meddle  with  other  mailers  then?  And 


KBDIT AXIOMS   AND 


ExpeniEN'CES. 


4U 


I  coDsi<lcred,  I  must  be  like  to  Christ  in  communii.itling  good  to 
others,  as  well  bs  t>cing  uniieil  to  Iiirn.  And  so  I  Haw  ibnt  bat 
for  the  snke  of  olhura  and  their  good,  I  would  meddle  no  a 
with  this  world.  And  this  set  my  heart  right  and  ii 
frame.  /And  I  saw  it  was  a  sign  I  sought  r 
when  I  was  (aalarcfieei  *  and)  satislied,  filled  with  Gud  and  C 
in  myself.  Then  all  my  arts  arbe.  not  from  indigency  and  want 
in  myseir,  and  so  for  myself,  but  for  God,  and  for  tho  sake  of 

I  saw  also  how 

holy  duty,  and  knt 

Hene</ 1  k 


in  a  sweet  I 
f  in  a  duty,  \ 
I  and  Chrisr 


mpruden 


and  how  unwilling  to  any 
s  of  advising,  admoniahing, 
L  need  of  the  force,  energy,  and  impulses  ot  V 

e  Spirit  strongly  to  press  me  to  my  way,  and  carry  me  on  in  T 
it,/'ii9    it  did  Paul    in  going   to  Jerusalem,  and  when   he   waa  | 
a  while  at  Athens,  and  as  it  did  Christ  when  he  went  to  the  des- 
ert, (Malt.  iv.  1,)  Ekballei.     And  hereupon  I  resolved  to  pray 
for  this,  aa  it  might  be  one  special  assurance  to  me  that  I  was  in 
God's  way  and  doing  his  work. 

Jane  20.  On  the  Sabbath  day,  in  reading  Bcza  on  the  Gtb 
of  Romans,  I  saw  clearly  two  things  :    (1.)  That  the  saints,  re 

cciv-ing  Christ  by  faith,  have  good  cause  to  bo  at  perfect  )ieace  m 

their  own  CQPjQ^ce,  there  being  by  Christ  no  more  conscience 
of  sin.  (2.)  That  by  this  faith  ihoy  had.  by  Christ's  death,  abol- 
ishment of  sin.  And  I  saw  that  this  faith  was  an  adherence  to 
Christ,  and  such  a  kind  of  adherence  to  him,  and  resting  on  him, 
as  that  the  soul,  by  dear  esteem  and  love,  clings  so  to  him  as  that 
it  gets  into  him.  It  is  so  close  an  adherence,  even  as  the  branch 
gets  into  the  stock.  And  so  I  saw  faith  doth  not  only  cleave  to 
Christ,  bm  it  sticks  in  Christ,  and  so  sucks  life  and  vigor  from 
Clirist  by  esteem  and  love  {  and  this  I  prayed  for.  And  by  Ihia 
I  mw  how  many  full  short  of  true  fnilh,  whose  faith  never  makes 
them  stick  cloiie  unto  Christ  Jesus. 

JuiK  27.  Oa  Sabbath,  when  I  came  home,  I  saw  Ihe  hypoc- 
risy of  my  heart ;  that  in  my  ministry  I  sought  to  corafurt  others 
and  quicken  others,  that  the  glory  might  reflect  on  me  a«  well  as 
on  God.  Hereupon  I  considered  how  ill  the  Lord  took  this,  and 
bow  averse  be  was  from  this  self-seeking.  By  the  sight  of 
which  I  labored  to  be  averse  from  it  mpcif,  and  purposed  to 
carry  it  in  mind  as  one  strong  means  to  help  against  it  for  timu 
to  come. 

Junt  27.     I  was  in  prayer  persuaded  and  stirred  up  to  remcm- 


I 
\ 


abv.  (I  Cur.  iiLm.aa.) 


i 

I 


I 


412  MEDITATIONS    A\n    SPIRITPXL   EXPKRIESCBS. 

ber  that  hy  every  thing  T  »lioiil<l  seek  (o  grow  bumbte  ;  to  pick 
somewhat  out  of  all  proviilunees  for  that  end,  because  I  saw  my 
lievt  grow  light  so  quickly.  And  I  farllier  cousideroi],  to  pick 
joy  in  God,  and  loathing  of  myeelf  in  every  thing  which  I  saw 
in  him  or  in  his  providence,  was  the  only  way  to  grovr  in  grace, 
and  improve  his  providences  aright. 

June  28.  I  saw  my  life,  being,  body,  sou],  were  in  God,  and 
1  all  good  from  him.  Hence  I  saw  my  heart  should  be  carried 
'  only  toward  him  in  love  itnd  di.'ilighl.  And  I  saw  from  hence 
my  sin,  and  the  advantage  sin  had  agaiikst  me,  was  by  means  of 
the  creature  and  pleasures  there.  But  wheu  I  saw  all  my  good 
in  God,  and  coming  from  God  into  them,  my  heart  was  sweetly 
calmed  and  endeared  to  God.  And  I  saw  how  I  ought  to  walk 
with  God  ;  and  this  I  found  did  strengthen  me  against  sin,  and 
made  me  resolve  to  be  the  Lord's. 

July  i.  I  saw  I  was  no  debtor  to  the  flesh,  to  serve  it,  either, 
(1.)  for  any  good  it  ever  did  me,  (2,)  or  by  any  power  over  me, 
by  divine  justice  satisfied  in  Christ. 

I  saw  it  my  duly  not  only  to  pray,  but  to  live  hy  prayer  and 
begging ;  for  I  observed  how  some  of  God's  pcMjple  did  so.  Hence 
I  saw  I  was  not  to  live  by  providence  only,  but  by  prayer,  (1.) 
For  myself,  body,  soul ;  (2.)  For  my  children  and  family,  at 
home  and  abroad ;  (3.)  For  the  churches.  Hereupon  I  asked 
the  question,  Would  the  Lord  have  me  to  live  hy  prayer  thus  ? 
And  I  saw  he  would  have  me,  because  he  had  given  m^  a  heart 
framable  to  his  will  therein  ;  a:id  it  did  much  refresh  me  to 
think  that  the  Lord  should  desire  me  to  live  thus,  as  if  he  ttmk 
delight  in  my  sinful  prayers.  And  so  I  considered  how  I  might 
live  by  prayer.  And  I  saw,  (1.)  I  should  see  what  evils  accom- 
pany every  thing  I  go  about;  (2.)  What  good  I  need  to  haTe 
conveyed  by  every  thing.  There  arc  special  evils  of  sin  to  be 
avoided,  and  special  good  things  to  be  conveyed.  And  I  asked 
why  I  was  to  live  by  prayer.  And  I  thought,  (1.)  Becaose  it 
did  honor  God  ;  {'2.)  Kept  me  from  many  unknown  evils  wliicli 
else  would  befall  me  ;  (3.)  Jiecanse  else  I  could  not  have  aBsur- 
ance  any  other  prayers  should  be  heard  which  were  not  my  life. 
To  pray  by  (its  is  not  the  way  to  And  help  in  time  of  trouble, 
r  JulllJ-  When  I  was  at  meeting  to  receive  in  members,  I 
I  considered  of  the  reason  why  the  Ixird  helped  me  to  pray,  and 
yet  did  not  answer  me  ;  nay,  things  did  not  stir  nor  move,  but 
rather  things  in  church  and  elsewhere  in  men's  spirits  went  worse 
and  worse.  So  I  saw,  hereby,  what  need  I  hod  of  all  the  prayers 
of  others,  and  to  gel  their  prayers  with  fastings  with  me  for  those 
blessings  whicli  come  hardly  from  the  Lord.     Yet  I  saw  the  Lord 


UEDITATIO^fS    AND   SPIRITCAL  CXPERIKNCES. 


413 


could  anairer  easily  and  Buddciily,  but  lie  would  not ;  and  the 
reason  was,  (1.)  Because  he  did  delight  in  my  (irHyeis,  and  bence 
be  kept  me  (niu!:icitui-like)  asking ;  (2.)  llecau»e  be  delighted 
in  the  prayere  of  many  together ;  (3.)  Because  he  would  let  roe 
see  I  did  need  the  prayers  of  others,  as  well  as  my  own.  And  I 
saw  al«o  that  all  prayers  of  faith  are  beard  inatajilly  in  heaven, . 
but  many  times  tbey  are  not  heard  from  hcavdn  until  many  I 
shoulders  are  set  Lo  the  work.  ' 

July  7.  I  saw  thai,  notwithstanding  all  my  sins,  I  should  see 
there  was  no  condemnation  to  me,  nor  should  I  fear  it;  (1.)  be- 
ing in  Christ  by  faith ;  (2.)  walking  after  the  Spirit,  because  I  re- 
sisted and  mourned  under  the  flesb  and  body  of  deatb,  as  I'kul 
did.  Yet  I  saw  I  should  look  upon  all  my  tans  with  an  eye  of 
lamentation,  as  being  (I.)  cross  lo  God;  (2.)  so  conimry  to  tbe 
life  of  Christ  in  me.  For  I  saw  Ibnl  I  made  a  difference  of 
some  sins  in  a  Christian:  (1.)  Some  did  cause  God's  faiberly 
anger,  and  were  more  wilful,  and  conscience  upbraided  me  tur 
tbem ;  (2.)  Others  were  weaknesses,  for  which  Christ  pittjd  me. 
And  here  my  heart  began  to  ibink,  What  need  of  such  billur 
mourning  for  them  ?  Now  I  saw  the  apostle  (Rom.  vii.)  mourned  . 
alike  for  all.  He  feiLTed  none  for  condemnation  ;  he  mourned 
for  all  with  bitter  lamentation.  So  I  was  sweetly  enlightened, 
and  purposed  thus  lo  walk,  and  not  to  mourn  only  for  such  sina 
as  did  bide  tbe  face  of  my  God,  but  for  sin  iu  general,  which 
goes  against  hb  life,  yea,  is  contrary  to  the  end  of  Christ's  death, 
and  cross  lo  the  will  of  God.  And  1  saw  it  my  duly  to  mourn, 
And  that  bitterly,  with  unutterable  daily  sighings  under  them. 

Jttlg  6.  I  was  templed  to  think  that  I  had  been  out  of  my 
way  iu  oecnsioning  any  to  come  lo  this  wilderness  among  so  uituiy 
snares.  Yet  considering  thai  through  God's  providence  we  were 
fallen  here,  I  saw  it  was  my  duly,  and  purposed  il  should  b«  my  ' 
work,  to  do  all  ihat  I  could,  and  be  the  more  earnest  with  God  in  ' 
prayer,  and  Utjingert  fortanam,  muke  tbe  best  of  what  is,  be* 
cause  bad  at  besU 

I  saw  also  how  some  godly  men  and  friends,  who,  lliougti 
they  were  sincere,  yet  wore  very  weak,  and  could  not  go  through 
the  preaeut  temptations  of  the  placo  of  wants,  etc,  with  that 
conlcntedness  and  sweetness  of  spirit  03  wns  meet.  And  when 
I  saw  that  possibly  it  might  not  come  from  wunt,  but  weakness 
of  grace  only,  my  bowels  yearned  toward  Clirisl's  weak  ones, 
nnil  I  was  secretly  raised  up  with  ho)>es  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
would  pity  ihem  because  ibey  were  weak  hml  faint,  and  would 
lend  those  gently  who  were  with  young.  And  it  was  s]>ecial 
ground  of  faith  and  prayer  for  them. 


I: 


1  JmIv  It  B«ring  sutldenir  Bnrprised  bv  a  sin  before  the  sncrs- 
'  mcnl,  my  cwiscjence  was  awakened,  nnd  mj  Leart  <:bet.-ked  me 
fur  it  Yet  llie  Lord  turned  the  mediuiion  of  ilie  evil  of  this 
»in  lo  great  good  to  me,  vii^  oot  only  to  s«t  mj  heart  a^inst 
it  and  all  oilier  ^ins,  but  the  Lord  iherebr  let  in  a  roost  glorious 
'jjjlit  (as  I  thought)  of  his  gospel,  and  d  the  way  of  beliexiDg 
or  pardon,  more  than  ever  I  had  ;  which  was  this ;  — 
I  saw  thai  the  nature  and  practice  of  a  man  awakened  with 

Irfn  was  thii,  vix-  when  conscience  smiiee  him  with  the  fe&r  and 
terror  of  God,  "  Dost  think  God  loves  thee,  or  hath  sanclified  lliee, 
vho  dost  rush  upon  such  evils  again  and  a^in  ?  No.  he  is  angry 
with  Ihee  for  thy  sin."  Hi-reupcn  the  heart,  being  desirotM  of 
&vor,  thinks  secretly  ihus :  As  sin  haih  provoked  (lod's  anger,  bo, 
he  being  merdful,  I  hope  the  leaving  off  my  sin,  and  luming 
from  my  sin,  will  pacify  and  please  the  Lord  again  ;  and  so  doth 
secretly  think  to  please  God  and  pacify  God,  and  so  ludeed  to 
BAlisfy  God  tor  that  sin,  and  so  forstikeii  sin ;  and  now,  in  time 
of  sickness  or  horror,  thinks,  that  the  Lord  is  pacified  and  ple8s«d 
with  this,  acconling  as  some  scriptures  seem  lo  speak.  Or 
else  it  secretly  thinks  fajlh  in  Christ's  blood  and  turning  frora  sin 
also,  both  together,  do  please,  and  that  now  all  is  quiet.  Here- 
upon, remembering  that  Christ's  blood  apprehended  by  faith  was 
the  only  atonement,  I  conceived  ibis  v&s  not  the  way  thai  I 
should  walk  in  ;  but  rather  this:  — 

1.  I  «aw  that  when  [lie  least  sin,  as  well  as  the  greatest,  was 
committed,  my  first  woik  was  to  see  thai  I  (in  myself  consid-  , 
ered}  must  die  eternally  for  that  sin,  and  so  should  pa«s  sentence 
upon  myself  for  it.  And  here  I  saw  that  by  iliia  the  elect  did, 
and  llml  1  should,  see  how  cross,  and  contrary,  and  grievous  sin 
ia  lo  God,  who  is  so  incensed  by  it,  as  he  will  be  ibe  death  of  a 
sinner  for  il.  And  so  I  saw  ihat  hereby  my  soul  should  be  humbled 
aright,  feeling  sin  by  this  means,  not  only  as  bringing  eternal 
dettth  un  me,  but  as  being  cross  and  provoking  to  God.  And 
this  I  saw  was  lo  be  done,  not  only  at  brst  conversion,  but  all  my 
life  ;  (Jcr.  xxsi.  20 ;)  that  so  hereby  the  soul  might  increase  ia 
humiliation  and  in  a  high  esteem  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  J  saw  that  next  lo  this  I  was  to  fly  to  Christ's  blood  and 
righteousness  for  salisfuclion  anil  peace.  And  here  I  saw  three 
things;  (1.)  That  this  was  faith,  to  Dy  to  Christ's  death  in  sense  of 
my  own  death ;  (2.)  That  this  act  was  exceeding  pleasing  lo  God, 
even  after  all  sins  ;  nay,  that  it  did  pacify  God,  not  liecause  of 

tUie  murit  of  the  act,  but  because  of  the  worth  of  tlio  object, 
which  is  the  satisfaction  of  Chrisi's  death  it  a))prelien<ts,  and 
that  this  doth  ple.tsc  him,  l>ecaiise  of  his  good  pleasure  and  pur- 


JIERITATIONS    AND   sriRITUAL   KXrERtKKCES.  415 

pose  of  grace,  and  because  he  will  be  3o  pleased ;  (3.)  That  this 
galisfaclioii  alowe,  thus  appreliended,  did  perfectly,  and  without 
any  holiness  or  reformarion  of  mine,  pacify  and  please  the  Fa- 
thiT  i  or  eUe  I  ta.w  that  Christ's  deulh  and  merits  were  imperfect 
and  insufBeienl.  Aiid  if  to.  if  this  alone  plensed  him,  then  the 
condition  of  tlie  gospel  was  not  thus,  viz.:  If  you  believe  in  Christ's 
de^ih  for  righteousness.  paciAcation,  and  life,  nnd  if  yon  be  sane- 
tilied  and  obey  the  will  of  Christ,  you  shull  then  live,  and  God 
the  Fftther  will  be  pacified  toward  you  by  both  these  means ;  but 
if  Tou  believe  in  Clirisl  Jesus  and  bin  death,  by  this  only  you 
shiill  please  God  for  whatever  sin  you  have  coramilled.  I  saw 
the  conscience  of  a  siuner  could  never  be  quieted  until  it  did 
rest  on  this  te.itimony  only,  in  seeing  God  pleased  that  mo- 
ment wherein  it  flies  out  of  self  to  the  death  of  Christ.  How, 
because  I  knew  ibe  Lord  reqnircd  obedience  and  saiMiification, 
hence  a   third   thing  came  clearly  to  mind. 

3.  I  saw  that  resting  thus  on  Christ,  my  conscience  should 
be  quieted,  that  God  was  now  pncificil,  and  that  I  did  now 
picuse  him  fully  in  point  of  satisfaction ;  yet  I  saw  I  was  now 
reiguired  to-do  the  whole  will  of  God,  and  to  conform  there* 
unto,  not  in  way  of  satisfaction,  to  pacify  God's  eiemBl  anger, 
but  in  way  of  thankfuhiess  for  this  the  I<ord's  love,  in  being 
pleased  with  me,  and  that  wherein  I  f«ll  short  of  it  1  should 
be  deeply  humbled,  with  Paul,  (Rom.  vii. ;)  but  wherein  I 
did  any  thing  according  thereto,  to  be  thankful  for  it,  as  Paul 
also  was,  (Kom.  vii.,)  when  ho  was  glad  that  in  his  mind  he 
served  the  law  of  God.  Now,  because  1  saw  I  could  do  notbing, 
my  will  being  desperately  averse  from  Christ's  will,  hence  I  saw, 
(1.)  If  Christ  bud  paciHed  the  Father  and  pleased  divine  justice 
fur  my  sin,  thai  he  would  al^  by  his  dcatli  deliver  me  from  my 
sins.  (2.)  I  saw  that  Christ  did  not  require  mc  now  justilied  to 
subsist  in  myself,  and  to  be  self-nmtidcnt,  and  to  do  with  and 
from  my  own  strength,  but  that  he  would  give  me  the  law  of  tha 
Spirit  ol'  lift-,  wliich  would  enable  me ;  and  that  the  obedience  be 
would  accept,  as  a  token  of  thankfulness,  was  this:  (1.)  That  I 
should  rest  and  rely  u|Nin  his  death  for  the  Spirit  of  life,  and  on  hla 
Spirit  for  the  power  of  it  to  enable  me  to  do  his  will  continoally. 
(3.)  That  if  the  Lord  did  enable  me,  I  should  be  exceedingly 
tliankful  for  it  [  if  not,  that  I  should  be  exceedingly  humbled  daily 
umtcr  it ;  and  so  still  forget  things  which  be  behind,  and  rtiach  to 
thing*  that  be  before.  Kelying  on  Christ  for  his  Spirit.  I  *aw, 
did  and  doth  ixune  and  arise  in  all  the  aiunts  from  the  law  writ 
in  the  heart,  after  it  feeb  God  pndDed,  and  the  law  of  God 
without,  which  being  reconciled  together,  und  the  soul  feeling  ita 


I 


I 


416  MEDITATIONS   AND   SPTRITrAL    EXrERieVCEB. 

own  weakness  to  ploiiae  il,  hence  it  relies  on  ihe  Spirit  of  Christ 
JeSDS,  and  thereby  finds  help  ;  the  Spirit  within  us  living  on  the 
Spirit  without  U9,  as  the  elementary  bodies  on  the  elements  in 
Other  bodies.  So  I  saw  that  by  fuiih  iu  Christ's  death  I  pleased 
the  provoked  justice  and  paciDed  the  anger  of  God  ;  by  the  law 
of  God  writ  in  my  beort  and  obedieme  of  the  Spirit,  I  was 
pleased  and  did  now  please  the  law  of  Goit,  as  now  given  to  me 
iy  Christ  Jesus. 

Now,  when  the  Lord  did  show  me  all  this,  I  did  bless  him  with 
my  soul  for  il,  and  I  was  taught  how  to  walk,  more  mieiiy-  I 
saw,  (1.)  Tliia  was  the  rigiil  way  of  believing  and  finding  favor, 
beeause  it  carried  the  soul  humbly  from  the  beginning  to  the  end, 
and  exalted  God's  grace.  (2.)  I  saw  that  hereby  the  saints  came 
to  mourn  more  for  siu  (which  Familbis  do  not)  than  any  other 
men.  For  when  I  see  1  must  die  for  sin,  that  makes  roe  mourn  ; 
when  I  see  how  cross  it  is  to  God,  that  makes  me  mourn  still ; 
when  1  believe  and  see  only  Christ's  death  can  pacify,  and  that,  t 
being  come  to  it,  it  shall  pacify,  this  makes  me  mourn  more, 
and  that  bitterly,  which  no  graceless  heart  can  do,  or  hath 
cause  to  do.  {3.)  I  saw  that,  in  preaching  duties  of  uhedieuce 
to  tlie  saints,  I  should  be  careful  how  I  set  them  a  measure, 
or  set  litem  to  do  them,  either  to  pacify  anger,  or  to  per- 
form them  in  their  own  strengtli,  or  to  make  doing  of  ibem  an 
evidence  of  grace,  without  inserting,  "  Unless  they  go  to  Christ, 
Mid  rely  on  him  for  hia  grace,"  enabling  them  thereunto  ;  and  to 
preitch  tbem  to  ihem  only  as  duties  of  thankfulness ;  to  oUtert 
as  handwritings  of  death.  (4.)  Hereby  I  saw  how  sanctificalion 
was  an  evidence  of  reconciliation.  (I.)  .1  saw  where  it  was  not, 
there  was  no  reconciliation ;  (2.)  That  where  it  was,  there  was 
recoucilialion ;  (9.)  That  mediately  it  was  an  evidence,  and  I 
was  to  take  it  as  an  evidence,  of  reconciliation.  Mediately,  I  sny, 
because  faith  in  Christ's  blood  doth  immediately  assure  me  of  it. 
But  tilts  (vix.,  sanctiiication)  assures  me  that  my  faith  hath  truly 
apprehended  Christ  Jesus.  (4.)  I  saw  that  faith  did  immediately 
evidence  reconciliation.  (1.)  Because  faith  is  required  in  the 
goBirel  as  the  only  condition;  sane  li  Beat  ion  is  required  to  come 
atlvr  it,  is  wi-uught  iiftcr  it,  and  commanded  aAer  it.  (2.)  I3c- 
(Hiuso  I  saw  the  apostles  bad  their  reconciliation  by  this  evidence. 
^  Rom.  V.  1,  "  Being  jusiitied  by  faith,  wo  have  peace  with  God." 
,  (8.)  I  saw  that  sanctiHcaiion  was  not  to  come  in  to  pacification 
•  Sf  Qud's  anger  and  displeasure,  and  therefore  not  immediately 
tA  lUe  paoillcation  of  conscience.  For  conscience  being  smitten 
with  simsa  ol'  Plcrnnl  death,  nothing  can  pacify  conscience  but 
that  whJtih  con  pacify  justice,  and  that  is  the  death  of  Christ 


i 


\ 


1IEDTTATI0X3   AND    SPIRITUAL   KXrERIENCES.  417 

Jesus,  npprehunded  by  ftulh.  Conscience  only  halh  quiet  in 
Christ's  denth ;  niy  peace  is  only  in  it ;  but  fnitb  only  U  Ibal  by 
wliiuh  I  came  by  it;  because  faith  makes  it  mine  own,  brings  it 
near  me,  and  nov  it  quiets  me.  It  is  not  by  an  immediate  tegti' 
mony  that  Christ's  death  is  mine ;  for  that  maybe  a  delusion, 
being  without  the  word  ;  but  Christ's  death  apprehended  by  mc, 
and  BO  t«sti6ed  by  the  word  and  Spirit ;  the  word  speaking, 
every  believer  shall  lire ;  the  Spirit  of  adoption  (enabling  the 
soul  UJ  eee  thi^  work  of  faith  in  itself)  speaking,  thou,  believer, 
shalt  live.  Which  Spirit  is  given  immediately  after  my  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  vie.,  in  my  adoption  to  sonsbip. 

Now  having  peace  by  faith,  my  conscience  will  question.  Is 
thy  faitli  right  'f  Now  my  sanctificaiion  bears  witness  to  that, 
and  so  mediately  shows  me,  that  my  peace  is  right.  In  a  word, 
the  matter  of  my  peace,  or  that  wherein  I  have  peace,  is 
Christ's  death.  The  means  of  this  my  peac«  is  faith  only.  The 
immediate  evidence  of  my  peace  and  pacification  is  faith  appre- 
hending Christ's  death.  The  evidences  being,  (1.)  The  word  of 
the  gos))el;  (2.)  The  Spirit  of  adoption  discovering  the  work  o( 
faiih  in  the  heart.  The  evidence  of  the  truth  of  faith,  and  so  of 
my  peace,  is  santification.  This  only  I  question,  whether  failli 
enith.  My  peace  is  made,  and  santificalion  aailli.  Thy  faith  is  good. 
Only  I  add.  it  is  possible  for  some  sincere  Christians  fir^t  to  MS 
their  sanctificaiion  and  holiness,  and  M  their  faith  and  peace. 
But  the  question  is,  whether  they  should  not  first  see  their  faith 
and  peace,  and  so  their  sanctificaiion  arising  from  thence ;  and 
so,  as  Mr.  Culverwell  notes,  not  build  their  t'luth  ujwn  ibeir  life, 
but  their  life  upon  their  faith,  and  their  faith  upon  God's  free  grace. 

(a.)  I  saw  that  the  reason  why  futh  in  Christ's  blood,  and  not  . 
simply  in  Christ,  did  justify  and  pacify,  was  because  a  humbled 
sinner  ever  fecU  and  sees  death  before  him  ;  and  hence  the  head, 
according  to  his  need,  opens  Christ  and  presents  him  thus  to  him. 
A*  also  why  Paul  calledsin  a  body  of  death.  {!.)  Ilecause  he 
saw  ho  must  die  for  it;  the  remnants  of  sin  were  death.  (2.) 
Because  they  were  cross  to  (he  life  of  Christ  in  him.  AH  this 
was  the  day  before  the  sacrament,  July  10,  1041-  And  I 
thought  now  I  felt  some  growth,  which  I  came  for  in  other 
sacraments. 

On  the  evening  of  this  day.  before  the  sacrament,  I  saw  tt  my 
duty  to  sequester  myself  from  all  other  iliings  for  the  Lord  the 
next  day.  And,  (I.)  Isaw  I  was  to  pilch  on  the  right  end;  (2.) 
On  the  means,  all  things  to  lead  mc  lo  that  end.  I  saw  mino  own 
ends  were,  to  procure  honor,  pleasure,  gain  to  myself,  and  not 
the  Lord  ;  and  I  saw  how  impossible  it  was  for  me  to  attain  thoM 

\ 


(  MEDITATIONS    AND    SriRlTLAL    GXr£!tIENCES. 

ernls  I  should  allain,  viz.,  lo  seek  ihc  Lor.l  for  liimseir,  lo  lay- 
up  nil  my  honor,  plcosui-c,  etc.,  in  liiiu.  Or  if  I  did,  it  was  for 
myself,  because  good  unlo  me.     So  iKe  Lord  helped  me  tbus : 

(1.)  If  honor,  pleasure,  was  good.  0,  how  good  was  lie  who 
gave  iheni,  and  could  have  cut  me  .short  of  them  !  and  so  my 
hi-art  wtLS  misud  up  a  liitle  unlo  God. 

'  (2.)  1  saw  my  blessedness  did  iiot  chiully  he  in  receiving  good 
and  comibrt  from  God,  and  in  God ;  but  in  holding  furih  the 
glory  of  God  and  his  virtues.  For  it  b,  I  saw.  an  amazing, 
glorious  object,  to  see  God  in  a  creature ;  God  speak,  God  act ; 
the  Deily  not  being  the  creature,  and  turned  into  it,  but  filling 
of  it,  shining  through  it  i  to  he  covered  with  God,  as  with  a 
cloud  ;  or  OS  a  glass  lantern,  to  have  his  beams  penetrate  through 
iU  /Nothing  is  good  but  God  ;  and  I  am  no  further  good  ihaa 
as  1  hold  forth  God.  The  devil  overcame  Eve  to  damn  herself, 
by  telling  her  she  should  be  like  God.  0,  that  is  a  glotioua 
thing !     And  should  not  I  he  holy,  and  so  be  like  him  indeed  ? 

Hereupon  I  found  my  heart  more  sweetly  drawn  to  close  with 
God  thus  as  my  end,  and  to  place  my  happiness  in  it ;  and  also  I 
saw  it  was  my  misery  to  hold  furTtrBln,  and  ^atan,  niid  self  in 
my  course  ;  and  I  saw  one  of  those  two  things  I  must  do.  Now, 
because  my  soul  wanted  pleasure,  I  purposed  thus  to  hold  forth 
God,  and  did  hope  it  should  be  my  pleasure  so  to  do,  as  it  would 
be  my  pain  to  do  otherwise. 

I  also  considered  of  the  nature  of  a  sacrament  ;  and  I  thought, 
if  Christ  was  here  present  to  prepare  and  bless  the  ordinance,  I 
should  believe.  But  I  saw,  (1,)  Should  I  not  believe  Christ 
(lid  give  me  meat,  unless  every  day  he  did  lay  the  cloth  ?  (2,)  I 
paw,  should  not  I  believe  the  word  by  ministers,  because  Christ 
doth  not  g]icuk  it  with  his  own  mouth?  (3.)  I  saw,  Christ  did 
conimutid  his  ministers  lo  do  this  in  remembrance  of  him  ;  and  if 
for  Christ's  sake,  that  ho  might  be  remembered  and  loved,  they 
do  bless  it,  then  he  is  failliful  to  make  his  body  and  blood  present 
there,  and  so  to  make  tlic  elements  seals. 

I  saw  also  that  the  elements  were  not  only  seals  to  assure  me 
that  Christ's  word  should  be  made  good  to  me  believing;  but 
also  tliat  Christ  by  sacramental  union  was  given  to  me.  I  saw 
also  that  my  heart  did  say  and  conclude,  I  shall  fall  from  Clirist 
al^er  this  sacrament,  and  have  no  more  strength  against  my  sins 
or  weaknesses  than  heretofore,  nor  ability  to  live  to  him.  Then  I 
saw  that  the  sacrament  was  a  pledge  that  certainly  I  should  have 
Rlrength  ;  and  also  that  this  that  I  should  have  was  a  most  sweet 
thing,  via.,  the  life  of  Christ  now  begun  and  perfected  hereailer. 


MEDITATIO>3    AND   srirUTUAt   KXPER1EKCE8.  419 

I  saw  aliM  thnt  Itie  Bocrament  was  maile  to  confirm  this  main 
promise  of  (he  covenanl,  thnt  lie  nil!  give  himself  aivaj  lo  nil 
thiit  will  but  onlj  take  him  tliimkfully  and  gladly.  And  I  snw 
that  it  was  my  duty  every  sacrament  to  fnitfii  that  promise  and 
repeal  it  again,  that  eo  it  might  be  of  power  and  use  to  God'a 
people  in  due  lime. 

Julg  32.  I  saw  the  Lord  waa  wont  to  Euc(»r  and  bear  the 
prayers  of  his  people  so  constantly  for  all  things,  that  when  he 
deiitiMl  them  their  requests,  they  took  It  to  heart  as  though  they 
were  undone  utterly.  (Hah.  i.  2.  3.)  And  I  saw  it  my  duty  ao  to 
do,  and  so  to  be  affected,  when  God  refused  to  hear  my  cries. 

Jaly  22.  At  lioston  lecture,  when  Mr.  Cotton  waa  giving 
thanks  for  the  safe  arrival  of  the  passengers  lately  come  over, 
my  heart  questioned  the  thing,  why  I  siiould  he  so  thankful  fur 
them.  And  I  considered,  if  it  were  my  own  case,  I  would  hav« 
thanks  so  given  for  me,  and  glad  of  it.  Then  I  considered,  (1.) 
That  they  were  deiir  to  Christ  and  beloved  of  him ;  and  hence 
my  heart  >>egan  to  love  them  dearly,  and  hence  I  rejoiced  and 
was  thankful.  (8.)  That  the  Lord  should  so  reveal  bis  glory  on 
them  ill  prescrring  of  them.  "~ 

Jalg  23.  At  Chnrleslown  lecture,  I  hearing,  out  of  John  xvii. 
SI,  that  disunion  Hnd  silling  loose  from  Chrbt  and  his  people 
waa  a  mmns  to  hide,  and  did,  as  it  were,  deny  that  Christ  was 
come  as  sent  of  the  father,  my  heart  was  hence  much  adbcted 
with  shame  and  secret  aorro*,  purposing  io  cleave  closer  to 
Christ,  that  only  Christ  might  be  seen  in  me. 

As  I  was  riding  to  the  sermon  that  day,  my  heart  began  to  Iw 
much  disquieted  by  seeing  almost  all  men's  souls  and  eatatea  out 
ol'  order,  and  many  evils  in  men's  hearts.  Lives,  courses.  Here- 
upon my  heart  began  to  withdraw  itself  from  ray  brethren  and 
vlhers ;  hut  1  hud  it  secretly  suggested  to  mc,  that  Christ,  when 
he  »aw  evils  in  any,  he  sought  to  amend  tliem,  did  not  presentljr 
withdraw  from  them,  nor  was  not  perplexed  and  vexed  only  with 
Ihcm.  Ajid  60  I  considered,  if  I  had  Christ's  Spirit  in  me,  I 
should  do  to.  And  when  I  saw  that  the  Lord  had  ihas  over- 
iiiine  my  reaaonings  and  visited  mc,  I  blessed  his  name.  I  saw 
'al»o,  the  night  hefore  this,  that  a  child  of  Crod  in  liis  solitariness 
did  wreatle  against  tenipiaiions,  a.id  so  overcome  his  discontent, 
pride,  and  passion.  Another  did  reason  and  so  wrestle  for  his 
teinpiaiion  of  discontent,  etc,  and  was  overcome  Jonah  indeed 
did  reason  for  hia  passion  for  a  time,  but  the  Lord  overcame  his 

Auff.  1.  Oo  Sabhaih  day.  whi'ii  the  Lord  had  given  me  some 
comfortable  cnlargemeots,  1  searched  my  heart  to  sec  my  sin. 


L 


iiO  ItEOrTATIO'lS   AND 

1.  There  was  name  poor  little  eye  in  seeking  ilie  nnme  and 
plorjr  of  Christ :  but  I  saw  it  was  bat  little,  and  that  there  wss 
not  Guch  a  liui-ning  desire  to  advance  it  as  there  should  be.  And 
hetic«  I  SAW  I  voi  to  be  humbled  for  ibis. 

2.  I  MW,  that  though  I  did  seek  Chriai'«  glory,  yet  I  sought  it 
not  only,  but  ray  own  glory  loo.  And  hereupon  thinking,  whelber 
a  man  might  not  have  sorae  respect  t«  his  own  glory,  the  Lord 
taught  me,  that  in  merely  human  acts,  I  might  have  some  respect 
Dhio  it;  but  in  the  ministry  and  that  kind  of  work,  and  so  in  all 
work  whereby  I  draw  nigh  unto  him,  this  was  such  work  above 
me,  Mid  so  wholly  divine  and  God'$  work,  that  I  should  here  have 
no  respect  to  myself  together  with  God.  For  I  saw.  God  might 
have  left  me  on  the  dunghill,  and  not  have  betrusled  me  with 
only  such  work  as  this  is.  I  hereupon  desired  to  be  humbled, 
nnd  that  my  sins  might  be  removed,  that  the  Lord  might  succeed 
and  bless  me.  And  here  I  saw  my  heart  popishly  carried  to 
think  God'«  grace  would  work  upon  the  removal  of  my  sin. 
Whereas  I  saw,  that  justice  would  not  work  for  a  sinner  till  sin 
were  removed ;  yet  I  saw  grace  might  work  for  its  own  sake,  and 
bless  my  labors,  and  pardon  and  heat  my  sin,  for  its  own  sake ; 
and  so  make  removal  of  sin,  not  the  cause,  but  the  efl^ct  of  its 
working. 

Atiff.  2.  In  prayer  my  heart  was  very  desirous  of  having  the 
generation  to  come  know,  love,  and  fear  the  Lord  ;  and  my  heu-t 
wiis  hereupon  much  enlarged  to  set  upon  calechisin^. 

I  saw  uUo  what  a  sweet  thing  it  was,  not  only  to  have  sinners 
converted,  but  to  have  the  saints  edified,  and  Christ's  work  go 
forward  in  themi  that  if  it  did  so,  all  things  would  prosper, 
even  outward  things ;  whereas  else  I  did  fear  all  our  woes  are 
yet  behind. 

Aug.  13.  I  saw,  1.  That  I  wns  worthy  to  be  left  to  myself, 
and  in  my  misery  and  sin:  (1.)  Not  only  because  1  had  sinned, 
but,  (2.)  Because  of  my  very  desires  to  come  out  of  it.  For  I 
saw  ihey  did  arise  from  pride;  that  when  I  saw  how  God  did 
not  prosper  mc  nor  any  that  did  come  under  ray  shadow,  and 
that  ho  loft  me  in  the  dark,  and  hid  his  face  and  secrets  from  tne, 
then,  when  God  had  cast  me  down,  I  would  take  hold  on  the 
Luni,  and  seek  to  eJimb  up  on  liim,  that  he  might  exalt  me,  and 
timt  I  might  be  exalted  by  being  lifted  up  by  him.  Whereas  I 
■aw  it  was  my  duty,  when  I  was  low,  (I.)  To  be  afflicted  and 
mourn,  and  loam  the  bitterness  of  sin,  and  roy  own  unworlbiness. 

iJiimcaiv.)  (2.)  To  be  desirous  lo  come  out  only  in  regard  of  the 
X)r(i,  that  ho  may  be  exalted  in  me  and  by  mc.  And  I  did 
think  Die  Ixird  set  my  bean  in  such  a  frame  at  that  time.     I 


MEDITATIOS9   AND   SPIRITrAL    EXTERIENCEB.  421 

■RW  my  vile  heart  also,  that  I  could  be  troabled  at  bId,  when  it 
WB«  croaa  to  me. 

2.  I  saw  my  heart  very  ready  to  neglect  prayer,  for  Iwo 
causes:  (1.)  From  thinking  that  I  had  prayed  enough,  when  I 
had  prayed  earnestly,  and  had  no  more  argumeats  to  use.  Bat 
I  saw  that  all  prayer  was  litlle  enough  Tor  that  end,  to  help  down 
mercy.  The  Lord  would  have  me  get  mercy  hardly,  though  all 
the  friends  I  lind  prayed  for  me.  (2.)  Because  I  thought  God 
would  hear  and  Ibrgi re  sin,  and  heal  my  soul.  But  I  saw,  if  he  did 
t  daily  mourn  under  it,  and  so  get  strength  against  iL 


Aug.  I5j.    I  saw  on  the  Sabbath  four  evils  that  attend  me  ml 

mj"  rtiinisl^ : —  I 

1.  The  devil  either  treads  me  down  by  discouragement  amll 


k 


shame:  (1.)  From  the  sense  of  the  meanness  of  what  I  have 
provided  in  private  meditations ;  and  to  this  1  saw  also  an  answer, 
viz.,  that  every  thing  sanctified  to  do  good,  its  glory  is  nut  seen 
in  itself,  but  in  the  Lord's  sanctifying  of  it.  Or,  (2.)  From  an 
apprehension  of  ibe  unsavorincss  of  men's  spirits,  and  their  un- 
readiness to  bear  in  hot  or  cold  seasons.  But  here  I  saw  I  ought 
not  to  be  as  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind. 

2.  Or  carelessness  possesselh  me ;  arising,  (I.)  Because  I  have 
done  well  and  been  enlarged,  and  have  been  respected  formerly, 
and  hence  it  is  no  such  matter  tliough  I  bo  not  always  alike. 
(2.)  A  natural  dulncss  and  cloudiness  of  spint  which  doth  oden 
prevail. 

3.  Infirmities  and  weakness :  (L)  Want  of  light.     (2.)  Want 
of  life.     (3.)  Want  of  a  spirit  of  power  to  deliver  what  1 
affected  witli  for  Christ.     And  hence  I  saw  many  souls  out 
forward,  nor  God  felt  in  my  ministry. 

4.  Want  of  success  when  I  have  done  my  best. 
I  saw  these,  and  that  I  was  lo  be  humbled  for  these. 

also  many  other  sins,  and  how  the  Lord  might  be  angry.  And 
this  day,  in  musing  thus,  I  saw  that,  when  I  saw  God  angry,  I 
sought  In  pacify  him  by  abittoining  from  all  sin  for  time  to  come  ; 
but  then  I  remembered,  (1.)  That  my  righteousness  could  not 
satisfy,  and  that  tliig  was  resting  on  my  own  rightvousness.  (2.) 
I  saw  I  could  not  do  it.  (3.)  I  saw  only  Christ's  righteotisncas, 
ready  made  and  already  ^nished,  fit  for  that  purpose.  And  I 
saw  that  God's  afDieting  me  for  my  sin  was,  not  that  I  should  go 
and  satisfy  by  reforming,  but  only  that  I  might  be  humbled 
and  atHicted  for  and  separated  from  sin,  being  reconciled  and 
made  inghleous  by  faith  on  Christ,  which  I  saw  a  little  of  tliat 
night. 

This  day  ulso  I  found  my  heart  very  untoward,  and  sad,  and 
VOL.  111.  SG 


1  ami 
ul  set! 

I 


422 


MEIIITATIOKS   J 


,   EXriiniENCES. 


I 


I 


heavy,  by  musing  on  many  evils  [o  come.     Bui  I  saw  if  I  «ir- 
■  ried  four  things  in  ray  mind  always,  I  should  be  comfcirted. 

1.  That  in  myself  I  am  a  dying,  condemned  wretch,  but  by 
thrift  I  am  reconcilea  and  live. 

2.  In  myself,  and  all  creatures,  fiodiog  insufficiency  and  no 
rest. 

3.  Feeble  and  unable  to  do  any  thing  myself;  but  in  Christ 
able  to  be  efficient,  and  to  do  ^1  things. 

4.  Though  I  enjoyed  all  these  but  in  part  in  this  world,  yet  I 
should  have  them  all  perfectly,  shortly,  in  heaven  ;  where  God 
will  show  himself  fully  reconciled,  be  alone  ouf&cient  and  effi- 
cient, and  abolish  all  Bin,  and  live  in  me  perfectly. 

Aug.  17.  I  saw  ray  neglect  of  myself,  family,  and  otbers. 
and  I  saw  the  reason  of  it  was,  because  the  Lord  did  me  ^ood 
without  prayer,  and  blessed  all  things  to  me  without  it.  Hence 
I  saw  how  juBl  and  righteous  it  was  for  the  Lord  to  take  every 
outward  ordinary  blessing  from  me,  because  I  might  then  bv. 
obliged  to  get  ihem  and  keep  them  by  prayer,  and  that  the  Lord 
should  continually  exercise  me  with  great  affliction,  that  I  might 
her<;by  pray.  And  I  saw  that  it  was  wisdom  for  me  to  pray  for 
all  I  had,  as  all  things  were  taken  from  me,  and  to  pray  for 
Ihem  out  of  duly,  willingly,  and  not  of  necessity,  to  bring  Gods 
purposes  to  pass  by  prayer. 

Auff.  21.  On  Saturday,  at  evan,  I  was  praying,  and  the  Lord 
matle  himself  very  precious  to  me,  because  I  might  come  to  him, 
have  access  in  prayer,  (1.)  At  any  tirae  i  (2.)  Might  lay  open  all 
my  wants  with  pleasing  to  him ;  (3.)  Willi  certainty  of  speeding. 
And  when  I  saw  that  my  great  sin  did  lie  in  not  keeping  the 
savor  (at  least)  of  the  Lord  and  his  ways,  I  did  thereupon  see, 
(1.)  That  the  remembrance  of  this  truth  would  be  one  means  to 
maiulain  it  as  it  gave  it.  {2.)  I  saw  there  is  no  wrath  like  this 
to  he  governed  by  my  own  lusts  for  my  own  ends. 

Aug.  24.  I  saw,  1.  That  tlie  means  of  being  immovable 
was  sense  of  God's  sufficiency  and  efficiency,  hy  faith.  2.  I 
saw  that  I  was  not  made  immovable  by  reatiug  on  my  fuiib,  and 
the  rest  of  faith  which  sometimes  I  felt,  but  by  resting  on  God 
as  only  able  to  support  my  faith  and  me  by  it.  3.  I  saw  how 
e=cceding  short  I  fell  of  that  holiness  God  requires.  And  hence 
I  saw  the  reason  why  men  seek  after  no  more  holiness,  nor  aro 
more  holy,  is,  (1.)  ISecause  they  think  they  are  holy,  as  God 
would  have  thera,  and  as  other  Christians  be :  they  set  up  their 
pitch;  or,  (2.)  Because  of  their  impotency  and  weakness,  and 
they  could  do  no  more  than  they  did.  4.  I  saw  there  is  great 
matter  of  humbling  that  I  am  not  so  holy  as  I  should  be,  but  ain 


HEDITATIONa 

infinilely  short ;  but  much  more,  that  I  a 
be,  through  Christ. 

Afig.  28,  29.  When  I  came  from  preaching  I  saw  my  own 
weakncM,  (1.)  Of  body,  to  speak;  (2.)* Of  light  and  affectiun 
within,  and  enhirgement  there,  and  that  my  weak  mind,  heart, 
tuid  tongue  moved  without  God's  special  help.  (3.)  I  saw  my 
weakness  to  bless  wliat  I  did.  Hereupon  I  questioned  whether 
the  Lord  would  ever  bless  one  so  impotent,  that  did  my  work 
without  his  power,  and  sinned  so  much  with  such  dead,  heiirtless, 
blind  work,  and  I  feared  he  would  not.  But  then  I  considered, 
(I.)  That  God  doth  show  his  power  ^y  the  much  ado  of  our 
weakness  to  do  any  thing.  God  works  not  by  strong,  but  weak 
things.  (1  Cor.  i.  21.)  He  makes  foolish  things,  and  weak  things 
and  things  that  are  not,  to  do  his  work,  that  no  fle^h  might  glory. 
(2.)  I  Haw  that  if  he  did  so,  then  the  more  weak  I  was,  the  more 
tit  was  I  to  be  used,  and  that  he  could  bless  his  own  ordinance 
by  me.  (2  Cor.  xii.  9.)  His  power  pitchelh  his  tents  in  weak- 
ness. (3.)  I  saw  that  the  Lord  (aa  weak  as  I  am)  had  blessed 
my  poor  labors,  and  if  he  should  do  it  still,  O,  how  I  should  give 
the  glory  to  him  !  So  my  heart  was  much  affecled,  and  did  give 
the  glory  of  all  was  ever  done  by  me  to  God.  And  I  thought 
I  did  now  begin  to  do  what  I  should  do  forever  in  heaven.  .  And 
I,  seeing  that  by  this  way  God  should  be  glorified,  1  began  to  re- 
joice with  Paul  in  my  infirmities,  and  my  heart  began  to  be 
raised  up  from  sinking  under  them,  because  I  thought  I  was  bound 
to  rejoice  in  God,  that  by  my  weakness  he  would  glorify  himself. 
And  1  began  to  see  bow  good  it  was  to  acknowledge  and  not  be  i 
ashamed  of  my  weaknesses  before  others,  that  ihey  might  See  ) 
the  more  clearly  the  glory  of  God  ;  nor  to  bo  discoumged  with 
them  before  nor  ai\er  my  work. 

Yet  here  was  left  one  scruple :  bow  that  the  apostles  wero 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  power  and  strength  in  their  work,  and  so 
God  blessed,  as  1  The«s.  i.  4.  I  thought  the  apostles  were  weak 
bfjort  their  work  ;  but  were  they  so  t'n  their  work  ?  Did  the 
Lord'  by  weak  work  in  and  upon,  them  do  any  good?  So  I 
mourned.  For  a  little  before  tliis  time  I  observed  weakness  to 
do  Chriiit's  work  and  shame  ever  went  together,  and  that  weak- 
ne*.B  of  body  and  neglect  of  duty  went  together. 

So  I  prayed  that  erening  immediately,  that  the  Lord  would 
accept  me  in  Christ's  righteousness,  and  make  me  strong,  and 
leatous  for  him  and  bis  name ;  nay,  that  Christ  himself  would 
be  zealous  tu  get  liimMlf  a  name  by  me,  who  was  hut  a  worth* 
less  inslrumeul  in  bis  hand  ;  and  so  I  rested  with  some  hope 
that  he  would,  and  reisolvcd  to  walk  in  sense  of  my  weakness  and 
Tileneu  daily  before  him. 


1 


L 


I 


I 


Hi 


MEDITATIOS8   AND   SPlIllTrAL  J 


*Gk.irTn«t  he  dii 


quietcdf^H 


I 


I 


IS  on  SnbbaTh  day  niglit  secreUy  swelling  a_ 
not  bless  my  ministry.  But  th<;n  rememberiffj^ 
,  how  I  deserved  death  etenially,  I  was  soon  quietcdf 
and  I  blessed  God  exceediogly  fur  my  lire,  and  that  the  Lord 
was  not  yet  gone  out  of  hearing,  but  lliat  I  mighi  eome  to  him 
Ij^^oltly,  and  in  extraordinary  duties,  and  pray.  So  I  prayed 
earnestly  for  favor  and  love  of  Christ,  and  God  in  Christ,  and 
for  a  multitude  of  mereica.  And  I  prayed  so  long,  until  my 
lieart  was  mode  suitable  unto  mercy  ;  so  as  I  prised  nothing  else 
but  God's  favor,  bo  as  my  heart  did  find  rest  there,  and  was 
quiet  with  it;  which  gave  me  some  sweet  peace.  And  I  began 
to  believe  mercy  was  mine,  because  my  heart  was  confined  Ic 
and  filled  with  it,  and  did  rest  on  it,  and  with  iL  For  1  ( 
sidered,  the  heart  of  all  ungodly  men  is  ravished  and  i 
to  creatures,  and  linds  rest  there  only.  And  so  I  fell  to  blessii^  I 
God,  and  praying  for  the  fruits  of  God's  reconciled  love  ;  and 
among  other  things  to  bloss  my  ministry.  And  in  doing  this  a 
dcfire  came  in,  viz.,  that  the  Lord  would  not  bless  my  words,  but 
his  own  word,  because  it  is  his  own.  Because  I  am  sure  he  wift  g 
bless  his  own  children,  and  make  them  blessings  ;  so  I  was  t 
the  Lord  would  bless  his  own  word,  because  it  is  his  own. 

Sept.  5.     I  saw  in  prayer,  that  there  was  none  almost  that  d 
make  conscience  to  grow  nearer  to  God  one  day  than  another  ' 
day  ;  but  lefl  that  to  God,  without  much  care. 

Sepl.^  I  saw  the  reason  why  I  did  walk  no  more  humbly  and 
holily  was,  because  1  did  make  the  creature  something,  and  did 
n6t  make  Giod  all  things.  God  is  all :  he  that  possesseth  hint 
poeaesseth  something ;  yea,  all  things.  So  long  as  the  crfiatura 
is  something,  that  something  will  stand  betwixt  God  and  me, 
that  I  shall  not  walk  only  in  his  sight.  This  therefore  Is  magai- 
lying  of  God,  to  make  him  all,  the  fountain  of  all  goodn^ 

r-*"  I  saw  in  my  sleep  that  night,  that  ft  Christian  was  to  s 

I  only  from  a  natural  power  of  grace,  which  doth  act  with  all  j 
might  where  it  is,  but  by  a  power  supernatural,  whereby  I 
attempts  things  above  his  own  might,  and  bears  evils  above  h 
might.  So  that  now  I  see  a  Christian  should  act  for  Chri 
with  all  his  might  and  beyond  his  might,  having  the  supematun 

\  power  of  Christ  to  help  him  thereunto. 

^—-Sfpl.  9.     Isawihe  vileness  of  neglect  of  God  in  duties,  because 
the  neglect  of  duties  is  iheformalit  effectus,  the  proper  effect  of  :l 
lying  in  my  falls,  in  my  sins. 

I  saw  on  the  fast  day  also,  that,  (1.)  Every  way  I  looked,  Iher 
was  matter  of  sorrow  in  me,  about  me,  sin  against  God  in  heBTSBjfl 


began  ^^ 

iH 

:  and 

Ibis  a 
s,  bnt 

tt  ^4^1 


MEDITATIONS   AND   SPIItlTOAU  EXPERIENCES.  425 

nsy,  agninst  Chrigt,  nay,  cross  to  his  will,  liis  love,  nay,  hia  life. 
Hence  I  slioulil  moum.  (2.)  I  saw  I  ha<l  no  CoraJorKtr  to  go 
to,  when  I  had  ihus  sinnet]  ugalnst  llie  Lunl,  uo  creature. 

Sepl.  13.  Id  my  medilaiions  at  nighl,  I  found  my  heart  (]«ai- 
rous  to  live  in  this  world,  and  do  good  here,  and  not  to  die.  Hence 
I  asked  my  heart  the  rea»oD  wjiy  I  should  not  be  desirous  to 
die.  And  in  musing  on  it  1  saw  that  Christ  was  ascended  up 
to  heaven  ;  that  so  not  Aerr,  but  lAere  all  hU  elect  might  one  day 
behold  his  glory,  and  love  him  and  glorify  him  forever.  And  I 
saw  that  this  was  God'^  main  plot,  and  llie  end  of  all,  to  make 
Christ  very  glorious,  and  so  beloved  in  heaven  forever,  whcru 
that  which  I  desired  most  in  this  world  (via.,  thai  Christ  might 
not  only  be  precious,  but  very  dear  and  precious)  should  be  per- 
fectly accomplished :  and  hereupon  I  secretly  desired  tliis  mercy, 
and  desired  it  for  my  child,  and  brethren,  and  all  ihe  rburcliea ; 
that,  though  we  were  blind  here,  and  knew  him  not,  loved  him 
little,  yet  that  this  might  be  our  portion  at  la.it.  And  I  did  feci 
my  deaircs  stirred  up  aSier  this  out  of  secret  love  to  Clirial  Jesus. 
It  would  do  ine  gcx>d  if  he  might  be  at  ta^t  ma;,'ni<ii<d  llitls. 
Then  1  ini)uired,  What  is  Ihe  great  tiling  I  should  desire  in  this 
world?  And  I  sitw  it  was  the  beginning  of  thai  which  should 
be  perfecied  in  heaven;  vi».,  (1.)  To  see  and  know  Christ,  i 
though  obscurely ;  ('2.)  To  take  Christ,  and  receive  him,  and  i 
possess  him  ;  (3.)  To  love  him  ;  (4.)  To  bless  him  in  my  heart, 
with  my  mouth,  by  my  life.  And  in  tliis  kst  clause  I  saw  thai 
I  should  study  and  stand  for  discipline  and  all  the  ways  of  wor- 
ship out  of  love  to  Christ;  vie  to  show  my  thankfulness.  And 
so  I  saw,  I  was.  ( 1 .}  To  seek  fur  to  know  Christ's  will  out  of  lova  i 
(2.)  To  entertain  it  in  love,  when  found  out ;  (3.)  To  keep  il  In 
love.  And  so  I  saw  it  was  my  duty,  and  ought  10  be  my  care,  10 
keep  this  very  frame  of  heart  daily ;  and  1  saw  it  would  be  glorious. 

Sept.  17.  On  Friday  night.  1  wished  thai  Christ  would  break 
out  iu  greater  glory  to  my  child  than  he  had  done  U>  myself; 
which  gave  me  maltcr  U>  hiquire  whether  Christ  had  appeared 
to  me  in  glory,  or  no.  And  1  saw  that  then  Christ  breaks  out 
in  his  glory,  when  he  so  shows  himself  as  that  he  s[>oils  the 
creature  of  all  his  glorying,  and  makes  him  ]K>or  in  spirit,  and  so 
to  see  all  his  guud  in  Christ,  and  there  into  glory. 

Now,  I  saw  that  night,  (1.)  That  all  sin  was  in  me,  and  all 
ehume  did  Iwlong  lo  me.  (2.)  I  saw  all  good  in  Christ,  and  all 
glory  belonging  lo  him.  IIerou[>on  I  was  comfurled,  and  hoped 
the  Lord  had  showed  mc  his  glory.  And  I  saw  im  error  in  my 
heart :  for  I  thought  thai  then  Christ  up]>ears  in  his  glory,  when 
he  atfecis  the  heart  with  wonderment  at  his  person  by  some 


»i2G 
■tnuig 
grace, 
of  CI 
fnnnili 


UEDITATIOXS   A!iD    S 


:lal  I 


HI  ESC  E a. 


P 


■tnuigc  IirIiI,  and  so  filled  Uie  wul  with  glorious  activities  of 
grace.  Whenus  I  uiw  iliHt  was  Ihe  Iruust,  sweetest  revelation 
of  Christ's  glorj,  wliiuli  ilid  eclipse  hU  my  glory,  siid  laid  a 
fonndAlion  of  gluiying  onlj  in  him.  And  ibje  I  saw  was  that 
which  is  in  Is.  vi.  I  saw  my  longue  and  soul  tinckan,  and  all 
good  in  hiin.  Yet  I  saw  one  part  of  Cbriiit'a  glory  not  jet  re- 
vealed; for  though  be  had  so  shuwn  his  glory  to  me  as  to  damp 
■11  my  own  personal  glory,  yet  tie  had  not  so  shown  me  his 
glory  as  to  dtunp  alt  the  glory  of  nil  the  honor,  and  pleasure, 
and  good  things  in  this  world ;  which  1  tlieri;forc  prayed  for ;  for 
]  saw  honor  lutd  a  glory- 

Srpt  19.  On  Subhaih  day  I  was  al  prayer  at  night,  and  I  saw 
ny  heart  ever  and  anon  ready  to  cast  awuy  my  faith  and  confi- 
denee,  as  if  it  were  of  my  own  making.  But  the  Lord  let  ma 
Be»,  that  by  faith  only  1  Ehould  apprehend  and  have  God ;  and 
hence  I  saw,  if  I  cast  away  my  faith,  1  muel  cast  away  my  God, 
Now  I  fell  God  very  precious,  and  Chrbt  very  preciousi,  and 
hence  ray  faith  was  very  precious  to  me.  Aiid  I  saw  it  wa« 
nu  presumption  to  mnke  God  precious,  or  to  keep  liim  with  me. 

Oct,  2.  On  Saturday  night  and  this  morning  1  saw  and  waa 
Much  affected  with  God's  goodness  utilo  rae,  Ihe  least  of  my 
{'''alher's  house,  to  send  the  gospel  unto  me.  And  I  ^w  what  « 
great  hiessing  it  would  be  to  my  child,  if  he  may  have  it,  ilmt 
brmy  means  it  comes  unto  him.  And  seeing  the  glory  of  this 
mercy,  the  Lord  stirred  up  my  heart  to  desire  the  hieing  and 
presence  of  his  ordinances  in  this  place,  and  the  continuance  of 
hia  poor  churches  among  us,  looking  oii  ihem  as  means  to  pres 
serve  and  propagate  the  gospel.  And  iny  heart  was  for  this  end 
very  desirous  of  mercy,  outward  and  inward,  to  sustain  ihem,  ' 
for  his  own  mercy's  sake.  And  so  1  saw  one  strong  motive  to 
pray  for  them,  even  for  [xnterily's  sake,  raiher  than  in  England, 
where  so  much  sin  and  evil  was  abounding,  and  where  children 
might  be  polluted.  And  I  desired  to  knuwr  the  Lord  hetler,  thai 
I  might  make  him  known  to  this  generation. 
I  ~Oct.  6.  I  saw  in  prayer  that  ray  gi'ent  sin  was  my  continual 
I  sepiirutlon,  disunion,  distance  from  God,  (not  so  mui-h  this  or 
that  particular  sin,)  lying  out  in  a  loose  spirit  from  •God.  Here- 
u{>on  I  saw  Jesus  Christ  near  me,  next  unto  me,  because  he 
comes  in  as  Mediator  between  God  and  my  soul.  As  one  in  a 
pit,  a  mid-man  holds  botli  him  below  and  bimabovij.  I  saw  that 
.  none  could  come  into  the  chasroa,  the  breach  gin  bad  madi?,  but 
1  he  that  satisfied  Justice,  ibis  Mediator.  Hereupon  my  heart  was 
•"Itirred  up  with  thankfulness  to  Uy  hold  upon  this  Mediator, 
Christ  Jesus ;  the  object  of  faith  being  so  near  unto  me,  and 


UEDITATIONS    AND    BDRITCXL    EXrEKIENCES. 


427 


buing  of  such  worth,  as  lo  fill  up  Ihc  chusnia,  tlie  breach,  and 
such  love  as  to  come  sa  near  uulo  me.  1  considered  also  that 
Chrbt  was  most  near  unto  me  by  his  word  and  the  voice  of  that. 
Christ  between  God  and  me  liiut  were  diatanl.  the  word  between 
Christ  and  me,  and  faith  closing  with  the  word,  between  the 
word  and  rae  ;  the  word  on  Christ's  part,  failii  on  our  part.  "  The 
word  is  nigh  thee,"  (Horn,  z.,)- which  u  the  word  uf  faith.  And 
hence  oppose  the  word,  and  you  oppose  the  Lord  where  he  is,- 
aiid  wherein  he  is  most  near.  Hence  reecive  the  word,  and  you 
receive  the  Lord,  wherein  he  is  most  near. 

Oct.  IjL  When  I  saw  the  gifts,  and  the  honor  attending  them  / 
in  another,  rii.,  T.  H.,  I  began  to  affect  such  an  excellency.  I 
And  I  saw  hereby,  that  usually,  in  my  ministry,  I  did  affect  an  I 
excellency,  and  hence  set  upon  the  work.  Whereas  the  Loril  I 
hereupon  humbled  me  for  tliis,  by  letting  me  eee  this  woa  a  | 
diaboUcitl  pride.  And  so  the  Lord  made  me  thankful  in  seeing  I 
it,  and  put  me  in  mind  to  watch  against  it  _     I 

Oct.  6.  I  was  very  sad  to  behold  outward  wants  of  the  coun- 
try, and  what  would  become  of  me  nod  mine,  if  we  should  want 
cloilicA,  and  go  naked,  and  give  sway  all  to  pay  our  debts.  Here- 
u[K>n  the  Lord  set  me  upon  prizing  of  his  love,  and  the  Lord 
made  ray  heart  content  with  it :  (1.)  His  love,  thougli  he  denied 
me  all  blessings.  (2.)  Hence  1  desired  to  know  it.  (3.)  To 
constrain  my  heart  by  it.  (4.)  That  I  might  not  abuse,  but  htm- 
or  it.  And  there  I  left  myself,  and  begged  this  portion  for  aPf- 
self,  and  for  my  child,  and  fur  the  church  ;  and  so  left  them  in 
the  Lord's  bowels.  Now,  such  was  the  goodness  of  Chrbl,  that 
when  I  came  to  hear  my  father  preach  at  Boston,  the  day  aSiei, 
my  soul  was  settled  on  the  same  way  again,  when  he  preached 
atwut  conicniediiess ;  and  so  I  was  conGmietl  in  the  faith  ;  and 
so  I  learnt  how  aChristian  is  co:ifinncd,  (1.)  When  he  hears 
the  same  thing  preached  at  one  time,  or  by  one  man,  conSxmed 
■gain  by  another  man,  or  at  another  time;  (2.)  When  he  Icama 
something  privately,  and  then  he  hears  the  same  again  publicly. 

Ort.  9.  On  Saturday  morning  I  was  much  affected  for  my 
life  t  that  I  might  live  siill  to  seek,  tliat  so  I  might  see  God,  and 
make  known  God  before  my  death.  And  then  I  saw,  if  there 
was  such  tha:ikfu1ness  for  deliverance  from  misery,  would  it  not 
be  a  greater  mercy  to  he  delivered  and  redeemed  from  sin  ? 
And  I  saw  [hat  this  was  a  greater  mercy.  And  hence  I  saw 
the  love  of  Christ  in  afflicting  and  trying  me  with  want*  i  be- 
cause by  these  trials  I  came  to  see  my  sin  and  to  have  a  heart 
severed  from  my  sin.  And  so  I  saw  there  was  no  anger,  but 
love,  nay,  lliu   greatest  love  in  this,  viz.,  his   redeeming  love 


MEDITATION?   i 


PIRtTCAL    EXPERIENCES. 


f 


\ 


from  my  sin.  Hereupon  I  len mi  three  ibings:  (1.)  That  soul 
whicJi  felt  sin  the  greaiest  evil,  he  would  be  willing,  nay.  glad, 
if  tbe  Lord  would  iwleem  him  out  of  it,  ihoogli  by  any  iui&- 
ery,  wants,  whtowb,  tcmptaliong;  {2.)  When  he  was  delirered, 
be  would  be  lU  much  thankful  as  for  redeeming  bim  from  hell ; 
(3.)  Uo  would  accoiinl  ihis  the  highest  testimony  of  God's  love, 
by  redeetning  bim  out  of  the  greaiest  woe.  And  benoe  they  that 
take  sanclificalion  a»  no  sign  of  justi6cation  never  truly  felt  the 
evil  of  sin.  While  I  was  thus  muring  in  prayer.  I  saw  that  then 
my  soul  waa  severed  from  sin,  indeed,  when  ChrisI  Jenus  came 
to  be  in  my  soul  in  the  room  of  my  sin ;  when  he  was  dear  as  sin 
bad  been  dear ;  when  he  did  rule  as  sin  bad  once  rulod  me. 
And  I  thought  this  was  sweet,  if  God  would  do  so:  and  reaaon- 
able  also,  that  it  should  be  so ;  and  I  began  to  make  the  Lord  so 
indeed  unto  me.  And  so  1  learnt  Ibis  rule,  viz.,  that  if  ever  I 
'  would  have  any  sin  subdued,  do  not  labor  to  get  the  sin  subdued 
only,  but  get  Christ  to  come  in  tbe  room  oS  il ;  That  his  eweelnew 
may  be  there,  power  there,  life  there,  and  lo  seek  then  for  ibe 
contrary  grace  from  Christ.  For,  (1-)  It  may  be  long  beAwe 
Christ  will  come  and  give  the  grace,  and  so  the  soul  may  lie 
miserable  ;  but  Christ  may  be  then  had.  (2.)  Al  vocalion  Cbriet 
is  given  first, and  then  sanetifi cation.  So  in  the  renewed  iwnver- 
Bions  of  the  saints,  il  is  to  be  so  again-  (3.)  Else  I  seek  for 
Christ's  virtues  without  Christ.  And  cursed  be  that  soul  that  Ja 
loth  to  have  Christ  to  be  in  tbe  room  of  a  base  lust,  to  make 
Christ  that  to  him  which  a  vile  lust  once  was. 

Qgf.  16.  The  day  before  the  sacrament,  the  Lord  helped  m« 
to  call  to" mind,  1.  My  neglects;  2.  My  wants.  1.  My  neg- 
lects: (1.)  Of  duties  in  private  toward  myself  j  (2.)  To  my 
wife,  child,  family,  church,  com|)aniona  abroad ;  not  instructing, 
eiborting,  quickening,  being  an  example  to  lliem.  And  the  Lord 
let  me  sec  the  cause  of  all  Ibis  to  be,  (1.)  Ignorance;  I  kitow  not 
how  to  spejik  to  them,  nor  about  what  ,  (^.)  Unsavoriness  ;  not 
delighting  in,  but  loathing  such  ways.  (3.)  Pride ;  because  I 
could  not  do  so  well  as  I  would,  I  would  not  speak  what  I  could. 
IA.\  Lukewarmnesa,  in  not  being  carried  oot  for  God's  glory. 
(5.)  Idleness  and  sluggishness,  loth  to  stir.  (6.)  Love  of  study, 
(7.)  Wantof  tender  love.  (8.)  Apprehension  of  unfruitfulnesa ; 
in  case  I  should  attempt,  I  should  do  no  good,  and  hence  would 
not  sow  seed  upon  rocks.  And  I  thought,  if  this  latter  should 
hinder  me,  why  should  it  not  discourage  the  Lord  himself,  who 
bad  so  oil  cast  his  precious  seed  upon  my  rocks,  and  lost  all  ? 
And  here  I  saw  I  was  ignorant  when  to  speak,  and  how  to  do, 
wd  bow  much  ;  yet  I  saw  this,  tliat  suppose  I  had  done  right, 


aF.aiTATIOSS    AND    SPIRITUAL    EXPKKIENCES.  429 

ypl  tlial  llip.'e  principles  causing  ihis  neglect  were  to  be  lamented, 
and  not  iiululged,  for  wbieh  end  I  came  to  the  Lord  in  the  Bocrtk- 
nient.  For  I  saw  lli»t  good  duties  might  bo  done,  and  sometimes 
lawfully  omitted,  and  yet  botli  out  of  ill  principles ;  and  when  the 
ill  principles  are  healed,  I  shall  then  see  whether  it  is  tay  duljr, 
and  how  far  my  duty  rcticheih.  And  tlii^  I  saw  wiis  a  rule  of 
singular  use  to  know  when  the  ihinp  was  evil,  wliich  I  Ihinb  is 
riglil  and  good.  1  ^ay  it  is  lawful;  be  it  so;  but  see  if  this  law- 
ful thing  comes  not  from  an  ill  principle  Cure  that,  and  then 
other  things  will  follow.  So  a  man  strives  for  upper  place,  and 
who  shall  be  the  greatest.  A  man  thinks  usury  is  lawful.  Now, 
ear  I,  mind  the  principle  whence  these  come.  

3»  I  saw  ray  wants.  (1.)  I  did  want  knowledge  of  ihe  UTithT 
and  glofy  of  God's  will  in  the  Scriptures ;  (2.)  Wisdom  U)  guide  I 
otbers  i  (8.)  Daily  repentance,  the  want  of  which  made  the  I 
Lord  not  to  pity  me^  nor  to  come  to  me ;  (4.)  I  was  exercised  \ 
with  horrors  and  fears,  being  in  the  dark,  and  the  Lord  biding  \ 
his  face ;  (^.)  Want  of  a  spirit  of  prayer  distressed  me,  having  I 
words  without  affection,  which  I  saw  the  perfection  of  all  misery  ;  | 
(6.)  Want  of  real  for  God's  glory,  but  affecting  mine  own  glory  I 
will  mine  own  excellency,  nay,  the  excellencies  of  God  for  that  I 
end;  (7.)  Want  of  joy  in  the  Lord  and  in  his  will,  but  going  I 
&-whoring  after  lawful  things;  (8.)  Wantof  love  iu  gre^t  meas-  J 
tire  to  others.  ""^ 

1  meditated  this  night  upon  Christ,  and  saw,  (1.)  Tlmt  there 
was  a  necessity  of  a  Mediator  in  regard  of  God's  truth  and  holi> 
nesa.  (2.)  Th&l  this  wua  the  Messiah  by  the  witnesses  giren  of 
him.  (3.)  Iiaw  not  that  he  waa  mine, because  I  saw  Ao promise 
absolute  of  it.  But  the  Lord  graciously  cleared  up  to  me  John 
i.  12,  that  they  who  receive  Christ  were  sons.  (Christ  him- 
self, though  they  had  no  promise.)  Now,  to  receive  Christ  I 
saw  was  contrary  to  them  that  did  not  own  him  when  be  came  to 
his  own.  (1.)  They  did  not  acknowledge,  "This  is  he."  (2.) 
They  did  not  see  any  glory  in  him.  (3-)  They  did  not  embrace 
him  with  all  their  hearts  to  be  that  to  them  for  which  end  he 
came,  viz.,  to  be  king,  prophet,  and  priesL  So  I  saw  what  it 
WHS  to  receive  bira.  And  upon  a  fresh  persuasion  that  this 
Messiah  is  be,  the  I<ord  gave  me  to  embrace  him  with  my  aflec- 
lions,  as  if  present,  vii.,  to  guide  me  as  a  prophet,  to  rule  me  as 
a  king,  to  take  away  sin  and  death  as  a  priesL  Now,  here  I  saw 
two  things:  1.  That  true  faitb  was  not  to  guide  one*s  self,  rule 
and  canquer  sin,  and  obey  one's  self,  (for  this  is  to  make  our- 
selves our  own  saviours ;)  but  to  cleave  to  Christ  that  will  do  all 
this,  nay,  that  he  would  draw  out  our  faitb  uf  embracing  him  for 


I 


( 


I 


I 


tbis.  And  hence  I  saw  neglect  of  duly  m  Yile  .1  sin  as  actual 
am ;  bevause  Christ  is  not  ^o  tnudi  olfvnd^d  with  us  for  actual 
-an  as  fW  nut  coining  lo  liim,  and  clas|Miig  about  liiiu  to  tuke 
these  awft^.  The  one,  vis^-h)  do  t1>c  thing,  i«  hia  work  ;  but  10 
cleave  to  him  is  our  ciiief  work.  And  I  wns  conlinncd  that  Uiia 
ia  the  right  act  of  fuiih:  (1.)  Be(«t»e  ftnlh  i»  a  bare  receiver; 
(2.)  Frora  John  iv,  lU,  If  thou  wouldesl  ask,  he  would  give.  2. 
I  Baw  faith  weak  and  divide<l,  and  many  sine  would  be  still  in 
roe  ;  that  with  this  failh  there  was  a  necessity  of  daily  repentance. 
This  repentance,  I  saw,  consisted  chiefly  in  mourning  for  the  sin 
which  Christ  by.faith  had  not  yet  removed.  Now  I  saw  I  was  to 
mourn;  (1.)  For  not  going  to  Christ  lo  take  away  my  »in,  which 
I  daily  forget;  (2.)  For  the  evil  of  my  sin,  (and  its  crossoese  lo 
him,)  which  he  takes  not  away  ;  (3.)  For  his  not  taking  it  aWay, 
that  I  give  him  cause  to  leave  me ;  so,  (4.)  As  faai\'ing  crucified 
hira.  And  here  I  saw  I  iiiul  no  reason  to  eonlinue  in  sin;  (1.) 
Because  it  had  wounded  Christ ;  (2.)  Because  Christ  died  that  it 
might  die,  and  not  live.  And  thus  my  soul  was  sweetly  stayed 
upon  Christ  by  faith  tiiis  day.  and  much  comforted.  Yet  I  saw 
Uiere  might  be  a  deceit  in  one  thing,  viz.,  in  reasoning  and  bring- 
ing my  heart  lodo  a  duty  by  the  power  of  that;  (1.)  To  believe 
k  troth,  not  only  by  means  of  reason,  but  only  u[wd  that  ground, 
because  it  agrees  to  right  reason ;  as  that  Christ  must  sufler,  be- 
cause else  God  must  be  fnl,se,  and  his  word  not  true ;  (2.)  To  do 
a  duty  from  tbc  persuasion  of  reason,  because  it  pleaseih  me,  not 
because  it  pleaselh  the  Lord. 

And  here  I  saw,  if  it  was  from  reason,  the  power  of  reason 
would  never  carry  me  against  my  own  will  and  my  own  ends. 

Oct.  18.  On  Slonday  morning  my  child  was  bui'n.  And  when 
my  wife  was  in  travail,  the  Lord  made  me  pray  that  she  might 
be  delivered,  and  the  child  given  in  mercy,  having  had  some 
sense  of  mercy  the  day  heJore,  at  the  sacrament ;  and  the  Lord 
Stayed  my  heart  there.  But  I  began  to  think,  What  if  it  should 
not  be  BO,  and  her  pains  be  long,  and  the  Lord  remember  my 
nn  ?  And  I  began  to  imagine  and  trouble  my  heart  with  fenr 
of  the  worst.  And  I  understood  at  that  time,  tliat  ray  child  had 
been  born,  and  my  wife  dehvcred  in  mercy  already.  Hereupon 
I  saw  the  Lord's  mercy  and  my  own  folly,  to  disquiet  my  heart 
with  fear  of  what  never  shall  be,  nor  will  be ;  and  not  rather  to  sub- 
mit to  the  Lord's  will ;  and  come  what  can  come,  to  be  quiet  there. 
When  it  was  born,  I  was  much  affected,  and  my  heart  clave  I© 
the  Lord  who  gave  it.  And  thoughts  came  in  that  ihis  was  tho 
beginning  of  more  mercy  for  time  to  come.  But  I  questioned. 
Wilt  the  Lord  provide  for  it  ?     And  I  saw  that  the  Lord  had  a    ' 


MEUITATIOSS   ASD    BPIBITITAL    EXPERIENCES.  iSl 

man  to  great  glory,  fa  praise  him.  uid  hence  would  take  care  of 
him.  Though  Bontelimes  ihe  Lord  seemed  to  raokc  all  men  for 
nought.  (i*s.  Ixxxix.)  Which  place  1  thua  understood ;  God 
jiath  made  man  for  the  glory  of  bimaelf,  and  hejice  to  great  glo- 
ry, (though  he  made  mooy  tor  nought ;)  especially  the  church 
and  their  posterity  did  the  Ixird  make  for  glory.  And  if  God 
did  not  glorify  them,  then  he  seemed  indeed  to  ULtkc  all  men  for 
naught ;  and  that,  when  men  are  not  inalrumeDta  of  bis  glory,  it  \e 
for  nougiiL  And  I  sun  (rod  had  ble.iisings  for  all  my  children ; 
and  hence  I  turned  them  over  to  God. 

Oct.  29.  I  was  much  troubled  about  the  poverty  of  the 
churches  ;  and  I  saw  it  was  such  a  misery  as  1  could  Dot  well 
dihcern  the  cauae  of,  nor  gee  any  way  outi  yet  Z  saw  we  might 
find  out  the  cause  of  any  evil  by  the  Lord's  stroke.  Now,  he 
struck  us  in  outward  ble««iBg«,  and  heace  it  'u  a  sign  there  was 
our  evil;  (1.)  Id  not  acknowledging  all  we  have  from  God, 
(llos.  iL  6  ;)  (2.)  In  not  serving  God  in  the  having  of  them  i 
(3.)  In  making  ourselves  secure  and  hardhearted;  for  lawfiil 
blesaiugs  are  tbo  secret  idoU,  and  do  must  kurt.  And  it  is  then 
a  sign  our  greatest  hurt  lies  in  Jmving,  and  that  the  greatest  good 
lied  in  God'it  taking  tbera  atray  froin  us.  Wbercu[>on  I,  consid- 
ering ibis,  did  sweetly  coiit«ul  myself  tliat  the  I^ril  should  tnke 
all  from  us,  if  it  might  be  not  in  wrath,  but  in  tore,  vix.,  hereby 
to  glorify  himself  the  more,  and  to  take  away  the  fuel  of  our 
ain.  I  saw  that  if  God's  people  could  be  joyfully  content  to  part 
with  all  to  the  Lord,  prixing  the  gain  of  a  little  Winess  more  than 
«nough  ta  overbalance  alt  their  loesea,  that  ihe  Lord  then  would 
do  us  good. 

Ocl.  31.  On  Sabbath  day,  oAer  sermon,  on  my  bed,  I  saw, 
(1.)  Tluit  ray  own  weak  spirit  would  not  carry  me  along  in  my 
work.  (2.)  1  seeing  1  wanted  light,  and  life,  >utd  afleciioii,  and 
that  1  was  not  a  burning  ami  shining  light,  I  saw  thin  come  from 
tlie  WHiiioflbecpirituf  light  and  life.  ^{jidMiI  saw  I  was  sensual, 
wauling  ihc  spirit.  Ilereupou  I  did  question  whether  the  Lord 
would  accept  of  such  services.  For  1  read  not  in  Scripture  of 
wiy  niuister,  bnt  it  was  belter  with  him.  He  h  as  filled  with  light, 
oftcction,  [MTsuaeion,  etc  I  considered  hereupon  this:  1.  The 
Lord  might  rejcci  ray  services,  if  they  were  as  good  as  I  could 
wiiih  1  and,  2.  If  therefore  he  accepted  these  of  mine,  (1.)  I 
fttioulit  magnify  his  grace  the  more ;  (2.)  There  would  be  the 
more  grace  shown.  But  1  had  some  questionings  ihut  the  Lord 
H  would  noi  honor  liis  grace  on  any. so  vile;  but  that  he  would 
^k  make  the  oll'ering  more  pleasaut  to  him  first.  And  1  saw  if  I 
^B     had    never  such  oprossions,  yet  if  1  bad   not  light  and  life 


i 


&j 


I 


I 


432  MED[TATIOX3   ASD    SPIKITCAL    EXrERIEXCES. 

witliin,  whence  they  came,  (1.)  It  was  a  sign  Ihe  Spirit  of  Christ 
woe  far  from  me  ;  (2.)  Far,  hereupon,  from  God's  people,  which 
began  to  afflict  my  hearL  And  hereupon  I  thought  to  lie  down 
in  ftense  of  my  vileaens,  and  condemn  mj'Sell'and  others  for  such 
typoTTiay,  and  wait  for  the  Spirit,  the  Comforter,  which  God  is 
iriile  to  give,  etc. 

Only  I  considered  that  sinceritj  of  a  duly  ties  as  much  in 
mortification,  seeing  the  eril  of  it,  as  Tifificaiioo,  doing  it  with 
Ufe. 

iVoi'.  3.  On  a  fast  day,  at  night,  in  preparation  fm  the  dulj, 
the  Lord  made  me  sensible  of  these  sins  in  the  churches;  (I.) 
Ignorance  of  themselves,  because  of  secret  evils ;  (2.)  Ignorance 
of  God,  because  most  wen  were  full  of  dark  and  doubtful  con- 
sciences; (3.)  Not  clearing  to  Christ  dearly,  only ;  (4.)  Neglect 
of  duties,  because  of  our  plitcQ  of  security ;  (a.)  Standing 
Against  all  means,  because  we  grow  not  better;  {6.)  Earthlincss, 
because  we  long  not  to  be  with  Christ.  And  I  saw  sin  as  my 
greatest  evil.  ...  1  was  vile,  but  God  was  good  only,  whom 
my  sins  did  cross.  And  I  saw  what  cause  I  had  to  loathe  myself, 
^ud  not  to  seek  honor  to  myself.  Will  any  ilesire  his  dunghill 
to  be  commended  V  Will  he  be  grieved  if  it  bo  3otP  So  my 
heart  began  to  fall  off  from  seeking  honor.  The  Lord  also  gave 
me  some  glimpse  of  myself ;  and  a  good  day  and  time  it  wna 
tome. 

Nov.  L  On  the  end  of  the  fast  I  (1.)  went  to  God,  and 
rested  on  Lim  as  sufficient ;  (2.)  wailed  on  him  as  efficient,  and 
uid,  "  Now,  Lord,  do  for  thy  churches,  and  help  in  mercy." 

In  the  beginning  of  this  day  I  began  to  consider  whether  all 
the  country  did  not  fare  the  worse  for  iny  sins  ;  and  I  saw  it  was 
to.  And  this  was  a  humbling  thought  to  me :  and  I  thoagbt 
if  every  one  'in  particular  did  think  so,  and  was  humbled,  it 
would  do  well.  I  saw  also  that  if  repentance  turn  away  judg- 
ments, then  if  tlie  question  be,  who  they  are  that  bring  judg- 
ments, the  answer  would  be.  They  thai  think  their  sins 
as  that  God  is  not  angry  with  them  at  all. 
r  -i^ij.  5.  When  I  was  wallting  to  Roxbuiy  alone,  I  saw 
I  it  was"Tft)d  alone  who  gave  me  a  natural  life  ;  and  I  turned  tba 
1  thought  into  a  prayer :  *'  O  that  I  had  a  spiritual  life  !  that  is  but 
Wjr  a  lime,  this  forever." 

^~Ifov.  7.  On  Sabbath,  on  my  bed,  after  sermon,  I  examined 
heart  about  ibis  question,  viz.,  "  In  whose  name  I  bad 
'preached,  and  in  whose  strength  I  had  done  this  work  to-day." 
And  I  saw  that  five  things  did  strengthen  me,  or  which  I 
went  in  the  strength  of:  (1.)  My  natural  strength ;  my  body  it 


'  UEDITATIOMS   AND   SnRtTUAL    EXPERIBSCEB.  433 

prelly  strong;  and  hence  I  went  upon  the  alrengtb  of  that;  (2.) 
The  atren^b  and  power  of  e.sternal  necessity ;  the  work  must 
be  done,  and  hence  I  w«nl  upon  ibis ;  (3.)  The  strength  of  ex- 
ternal encouragement ;  as  acceptance  with  others,  and  favor 
from  otbera  ;  (4.)  The  strength  of  spiritual  afieciion  some  lime, 
and  received  grace;  and  hence  I  have  sought  for  it ;  (5.)  The 
etrength  of  failb  itself,  or  resting  to  my  hold  of  Christ,  rather 
than  on  his  hold  of  me.  And  here  I  saw  three  things :  (I.)  That, 
if  I  did  thos,  God  would  curse  me,  because  now  I  made 
flesh  my  arm.  (Jer.  svii.  6.)  And  this  atlected  me.  Grace 
itself  was  but  flesh  in  respect  of  God.  (2.)  Here  1  saw  the 
common  and  great  sin  of  all  men  in  their  ways  and  acts :  iboy 
ilo  trust  to  themselves,  and  stay  in  themselves,  and  have  some 
bottom  to  $Uind  upon  beside  God,  when  tbey  come  to  act  (S.> 
1  saw  the  admirable  strange  operation  of  faith,  that  nullifies  aU 
things,  even  ilaelf,  that  God  may  act.  It  is  a  faith  onder,  or 
stirring  under  faith,  that  doth  the  deed.  A  Christian  by  it  geea. 
not  only  oot  of  himself,  but  out  of  his  faith.  (4.)  Hence  I 
saw  how  near  to  God  faith  made  a  Christian ;  raising  it  above 
man,  out  of  man,  out  of  himself  to  God ;  that  the  Deity  doih,  a> 
it  were,  immediately  act  upon  the  soul,  when  it  is  thus  elevated, 
and  lift,  out  of  itself.  Now,  here  arose  a  question,  1.  What  of 
God  doth  faith  raise  it  to?  I  saw  it  was,  (1.)  To  God  as  sufficient; 
(1.)  In  Father;  (2.)  In  Son;  (3.)  In  Holy  GhoaL  And  there 
faith  stays,  (2.)  To  God  as  eflicient.  And  on  such  a  God  and  such 
strength  of  a  God  it  stays.  A  2d  question  was,  whether  faith 
resta  on  the  Lord's  efficiency  immediaidy  or  raedioicly.  I  an- 
swered both  ways.  But,  (1.)  Mediately,  (1.)  To  God  in  a  com- 
mand. For  God'a  commands  give  strenglii.  (Josh,  i.)  To  C>od 
in  a  promise.  For  a  promise  gives  strengtli.  (2.)  Immediately, 
to  all  that  hiiidcn,  ioGuiie  efficacy  and  power  it  sees  in  (lud,  and 
believes  to  be  there.  For  some  time  it  sees  neither  to  rest  on. 
Now  it  looks  to  him,  that  ho  may  look  to  it,  and  do  for  it  abun- 
dantly. And  beside,  there  needs  inuoediatc,  omni]>olent  efficacy 
in  God's  command  and  promise  :  and  hence  it  must  rest  on  this, 
else  ibey  are  useless. 

iVor.  10.  I  kept  a  private  fast  for  light  to  sec  the  glory  of  God's 
truth  and  faitit,  an  infused  faith,  and  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and  for 
conquest  of  pride ;  and  for  asxblance,  and  acceptance,  and  giu- 
dance,  (whether  I  should  set  up  lecture  again,)  and  for  sncoew 
niid  blessing  in  my  poor  minutry,  that  so  I  might  declare  and 
manifest  God's  name,  and  leave  his  truth,  and  so  himself,  and  so 
his  mercy,  in  the  country  ;  as  also  for  outward  supplies  fur  the 
country.  And  1  saw  no  particular  man  could  be  comfortably 
VOL.  tu.  37 


w 

I 


I 


431  MEDITATIOSS    4KD   SPIRirUAL    EXPEKICXCE9. 

E Tided  for,  bat  \ij  sotne  qiecial  meivy  to  the  common  slale. 
1  bcDce  I  tav  God  called  for  prayer,  not  so  roiich  few  ourselves 
M  the  common.  And  I  saw  the  common  state  of  the  countiy  did 
Be  ttpon  me,  andeTeiy  one  in  particular,  toseek  God  for,  vu^  that 
he  would  build  op  our  Zion,  and  prosper  the  vine  hb  own  hand 
bath  planted ;  and  that  in  this  new  world  we  might  find  ibe  new 
beavena  and  the  new  earth ;  aa  also  for  pardon. 

Over  night  I  did  qnestion  whether  the  Lord  did  call  me  to 
him  in  such  a  day.  And  I  saw  the  Lord  called  upon  ecomers 
to  torn  at  wisdom's  reproof,  and  lo  dig  tor  wisdom.  And  on  the 
morning,  beiime!',  in  prayer,  the  Lord  let  me  see  he  called  me 
onto  him  :  "  Come  and  seek,  and  seek  with  all  thy  heart."  And 
this  came  fresh  and  clear  to  me,  and  did  much  affect  my  beait, 
to  think  that  the  Lord  should  call  unto  me  as  he  did  call  Abra- 
ham to  follow  him.  And  here  1  began  to  have  some  light  let  ta 
about  cBeciual  calling;  and  I  saw  these  things  aboat  it:  I.  I 
saw  the  first  act  of  c^ing  was  by  the  command  of  God  in  his 
word ;  2.  That  it  was  by  the  word  of  the  gospel,  or  conunand 
of  the  gospel,  "  Come  unto  me ;  return  to  me  1 "  3.1  saw  the 
Lord  did  this  eSectunlly,  (1.)  By  letting  in  a  light,  clearly  to 
see  that  be  called  me  in  particular;  (2.)  By  letting  in  the  good- 
ness and  sweetness  of  the  command,  as  well  as  the  truth  of  it. 
4.  This  goodness  and  sweetness  of  the  command  I  saw  in  two 
things;  (1.)  In  regard  of  the  great  love  of  God  in  the  command, 
for  A  poor  sinner,  thinking  God  cares  not  for  it,  and  hence  would 
not  have  it  come  lo  him,  being  so  vile :  O,  tlie  command  which 
saith,  Yet  return  and  seek,  and  come,  is  exceeding  sweet  love. 
(2.)  In  regard  of  the  end  of  the  command,  which  was  fellow- 
ship with  himself,  that  he  may  be  all  and  do  all :  this  was  sweet. 
6.  I  saw  this  was  not  only  by  a  command,  though  firstly  so, 
but  nextly  by  his  promise;  and  this  promise  1  saw  was  not 
to  be  seen  but  in  the  word :  and  I  saw  all  things  promised  lo  soch 
a  one  as  comes.  And  hence  I  saw  I  had  no  need  of  search- 
ing God's  election  as  I  did  begin  to  do  in  the  morning,  whether 
ho  loves  roe  or  no ;  for  I  saw,  (1.)  God  the  Father's  favor  prom- 
ised :  "Return,  and  I  will  return  to  you."  (2  Cliron.  xxxii.) 
(2.)  I  saw  Christ  promised ;  for  we  are  called  to  his  feQow- 
ihip,  and  are  bid  to  take  him.  (Is.  Iv.  1,  2.)  (3.)  The  Spirit 
promised.  (Prov.  i.)  "  Return,  scorners,  and  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  on  you."  (4.)  AbolbhiAg  all  sin  and  punishments  of  sin. 
{Jer.  ili.  22,  23.)  (5.)  Perseverance  promised.  (John  vi.  37.) 
"  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  second  prayer  I  saw  there  was  a  God, 
for  I  saw  things  had  a  being  ;  hence  ihcy  must  have  this  being 


i 


MF.nrTATtONS   AND   SriRITUAL   EXPEHIKKCEa.  435 

from  themselves,  or  something  else ;  but  those  poor  creatures, 
till-  moon  anil  stars,  could  not  give  being  to  themselves. 

I  snvr  nhQ  how  I  hni]  embraced  (he  lusl  of  ihe  flesh,  the  tuat 
of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  a  long  lime.  And  hence  I  saw 
it  was  not  onlj  just  and  righteous  that  the  Lord  should  dcnj  U> 
bear  my  prayers,  but  that  it  was  mercy  he  nould  do  bo  ;  for  what 
greater  judgment  than  to  please  a  lust,  and  leiive  me  to  it  ? 

1  snw  also  the  pride  of  my  heart  in  one  thing  marc  I  aaw  not 
before,  viz.,  in  gelling  upon  preaching  out  of  an  apprehension  of 
the  excellency  of  what  I  delivered  above  others,  and  that  iheBe 
troths  that  came  froni  me  were  choice  and  excellent,  and  lobe  re- 
ceived with  high  esteem.  For.  were  it  not  for  such  a  foolish  «tn- 
ceit,  I  should  think  my  ministry  less  and  worse  than  any  man's 
else,  and  should  hang  down  my  head  in  a  hole,  and  not  lift  it  up 
(o  speak :  which  did  humble  me,  and  show  me  my  vanity,  and 
that  my  duty  was  to  be  carried  on.  not  by  such  a  principle,  but 
(1.)  Because  it  was  God's  sweet  irulh  I  did  deliver;  (2.)  Be- 
cause it  was  God's  command  I  should  deliver  it ;  (S.)  That  it 
was  for  the  sake  of  Ihe  Lord  and  his  name  wherefore  I  did  so. 
And  here  1  saw  the  Lord  begin,  as  it  were,  to  refine  roe. 

I  concluded  this  day,  1.  With  some  measure  of  faith;  for 
»fler  prayer  I  left  all  I  prayed  for  unto  God's  rich,  free  grace.  And 
hence  I  saw,  (I.)  That  (he  Lord  did  take  pleasure  in  such  as  hope 
in  his  mercy  ;  (3.)  That  whalsoerer  I  or  any  had  prayed  for,  Gk>d 
had  promised,  and  therefore  purposed  to  give;  and  thence  I 
might  quiet  my  heart  about  God's  secret  purpose ;  2.  With 
resolution,  (1.)  Whatever  God  xliould  give  me,  to  attribute  it 
ttnto  grace ;  (2.)  To  walk  in  a  way  of  holiness  for  the  future. 

I  saw  aUo  that  my  heart  was  ready  lo  think,  I  have  pt^ed 
enough  after  such  a  day  and  such  hopes.  But  I  saw,  (1.)  That 
though  Gt)A  purposeib  mercy,  yet  he  withal  intendeth  the  decree 
shall  bring  forth  by  prayer;  (2.)  He  will  therefore  have  us  pray 
till  the  thing  be  granted;  (3.)  When  the  decree  hath  begun 
to  bring  forth,  I  saw  that  all  the  degrees  of  mercy  arise  by  severa] 
degrees  of  prayer ;  as  when  faith  is  begun,  but  it  is  imperfect, 
prayer  must  be  continued  still  for  all  the  rest ;  as  the  chapped 
ground  opens  still  wider  and  wider,  till  rain  fall.  , 

A'or.  13.  I  was  considering  the  state  of  the  country  by  rea- 1 
8on"^of  Its  poverty.  I  had  two  arguments  suggested  to  make  me  | 
hope  the  Lord  would  relieve  us : 

(1.)  Because,  if  the  Lord  had  given  himself  for  his  people,  to 
redeem  them  from  ibe  grente.it  sin  of  the  world,  then  from  out 
of  llios«  sins  by  whii:h  our  distresses  are  occasioned  now  ;  (2.) 
Because  we  are  a  poor,  afflicted  people,  cast  out  of  our  own 


I 
I 
I 
I 


JlSD   SPIItTTTAt.   Kin-EKtESCES. 

eountrj.  from  our  friends  «nil  comforts  there,  and  all  our  sor- 
rows luid  suffering  here   nre  in   part  \ry  rt-oeon  ot'  tlieir   cruelty 

•  Hid  persBcuiiun,  and  lliat  tbetvlbre  the  Lord  will  ileHver  ij'  we 

[■ouglil.     O  Lonl,  remember  my  Hi;;bB  I 

*"  Tfini.  13.  I  saw  a  liltle  of  God.  and  saw  that  il  trait  aij  ilutj  lo 
make  him  superior,an<I  set  liim  up  in  his  highness  above  nil  others 
in  ttij  mind  and  eye  ;  and  I  saw  I  hod,  (I.)  Cause  of  wondering 
M  my  earriage  toward  him,  thai,  he  being  so  high,  I  stiould  Deglcct 
fcim.  (2.)  I  saw  I  lind  therefore  sinned  against  him,  becauets  ]  had 
•et  up  ro>'aeir,  or  sin,  or  men  above  the  Lord.  (3.)  1  saw  that  in 
this  did  appear  one  special  brandi  of  the  evil  of  sin,  be^wisa 
the  breach  of  God's  law  did  ever  arise  from  the  contempt  of 
the  Lord's  person  and  despising  of  him  and  his  glorj',  in  prefer- 
ring vile  things  in  compnriiMMi  before  him :  and  hence  I  slighted 
his  will.  (4.)  I  saw  I  had  reason  to  resolve  that  as  I  had  de- 
spised God,  and  set  up  other  things  and  served  them,  so  to  despise 
myself  and  thf>  presence  of  all  men  in  comparison  of  him.  (&.) 
The  Lord  made  ine  lliat  niglw  lie  down  and  be  humbled  ia  my- 
self, and  exalt  the  Lord  with  some  desires. 

Nov.  14.  On  the  Sublialh  day,  at  night,  after  sermon,  I  saw 
1  had  preached  to  €>tbers,  lint  had  not  fed  myself.  And  1  seeing 
it  did  arise  from  weakne.-^s  of  faith  and  light,  the  Lord  suggested 
the  one  hundred  and  third  pcmlm  to  me,  "  He  heals  all  thine  in- 
firmities," which  quieteil  my  soul  somewhat. 

Nov.  Id.  On  my  bed.  in  the  morning,  I  tried  my  heart,  and 
uked  what  would  bear  it  out  if  llie  Lord  should  call  ma  ta 
))reaeb  ut  the  led  ure  season  again;  and  I  found  thri«  things. 
(1.)  My  end  was  to  honor  Christ  Jesus,  and  leave  his  truth  be- 
hind me.  (2.)  My  principle  was  Christ,  in  whom  I  truslud. 
For  this  comforted  me  against  the  feeling  of  my  inalHlity.  I 
■aw  there  was  an  unknown  fullness  of  the  spirit  and  streDglh  in 
Christ,  and  that  I  was  not  to  go  out  in  the  strength  of  my  o¥ni 
tbilities,  though  received  from  Christ,  but  in  the  strength  and 
belpof  Christ  himself.  (3.)  Though  wjiat  I  should  do  thus  liram 
Christ,  for  Christ,  was  mean  and  poor,  yet  it  should  quiet  ma 

-  that  it  was  the  measure  the  Lord  saw  most  meet  for  me,  and  if 
I  could  do  better  I  would.  (4.)  That  if  iho  Lord  did  not  give 
Success  to  me,  yot  1  would  mourn  for  God's  people  and  mj  dwq 
MP  worthiness,  and  quiet  myself  that  I  did  my  duty. 
r-'^^tD-Hh  I  fell  my  heart  very  unsavory,  and  I  saw  my  soul 
I  nothing  but  sin  and  sorrow,  death  and  darkness,  and  in  a  manner 
W  good  as  in  hell.  And  so  I  saw  then  that  nothing  but  free 
grace  could  help  me  out;  and  there  I  did  hang,  and  did  prize 
this  grace  therefore^    But  I  did  question,  il  may  retiise  to  help 


UEDtTATIOMS   AND   SPIRITUAL   EXrERIENCES.  437 

because  it  is  free,  liut  I  saw  it  is  the  pleasure  of  God's  grace 
to  help  aH  ihut  prnyed  for  it  aiul  came  far  h  to  grace.  And  I 
saw  herein  was  part  of  God's  good  pleasure  to  hear  ever/  prayer, 
and  1  should  look  upon  no  other  secrets  but  this  revealed  will  of 
Christ ;  and  so  I  purposed  ever  to  lie  here.  And  I  eaw  depend- 
ence upon  grace  for  all  ever  supposeth  a  deep  abasement  of 
•oul  under  a  sense  of  unworthineas. 

^ov.  16.  As  I  was  going  down  my  stairs,  I  thought  if  Paul 
did  w  desire  the  ^ood  of  the  Israelites,  his  counlrjmen,  his  en- 
emies that  opposed  him,  that  he  could  wish  himself  anatheran  for 
them,  much  more  should  J  earnestly  desire  the  good  of  Iheir 
souls  who  had,  under  God,  committed  themselves  to  my  care  and 
charge.  And  so  I  left  them  to  God's  free  grace  to  provide  far 
them.  And  at  night  I  had  doubts,  whether  the  Lord  would  re- 
gard them,  or  no,  ihough  I  did  resign  them  up  to  him.  But  it 
came  ro  my  mind  that  if  God  was  an  idol  god,  then  I  might 
give  them  to  him  in  vain  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  And  hence  I  had 
very  sweet  persuasion  lliat  night  Ihat  my  work  herein  waa  not 
despised  of  the  Lord. 

Aav.  21.  On  Sabbath  day,  after  preaching.  I  considered  my 
vileness,  that  I  did  not  see  things  by  the  Lord's  light,  nor  was 
pereunded  by  the  Lord's  faith,  nor  quickened  nor  strengthened  by 
the  Lord's  life  and  strength.  So  1  demanded  a  reason  why  the 
Lord  Jesus  did  not  only  not  outwardly  help,  but  not  inwardly  act. 
I  saw  the  Lord  was  not  in  me,  hence  did  not  work  in  me.  I 
asked  then  why  he  was  not  in  me.  I  saw  my  sin  hod  separated 
him  from  me ;  yet  I  saw  no  sin  could  separate,  if  unbelief  was 
not  addeiL  If  I  returned  by  failh,  he  would  return  to  me.  Then 
being  ready  to  come,  and  yet  seeing  God's  grace  only  could  draw 
me,  I  demanded  whether  1  should  put  this  honor  on  God's  grace 
to  dmw  me,  or  lake  it  to  myself  in  coming  by  my  own  strength  ; 
BO  1  Ict't  niy  soul  with  God's  free  grace.  Vet  I  saw  thai  though 
Christ  did  not  act  in  me  in  the  same  measure  as  in  Paul,  who 
said  Christ  did  live  in  him,  yet  I  saw  he  did  act  in  some  mea»> 
ure,  though  little  ;  (1.)  Because  I  did  desire  the  Iiord  lo  act  all; 
(2.)  Because  I  mourned  for  want  of  this,  and  loailied  myself  for 
what  1  did  ;  (3.)  Because  I  did  rejoice  if  the  Lord  would  ael  me. 
And  the  neit  morning  I  saw  the  iruili  of  ihis  iu  Paul's  example, 
(2  Cur.  xii.,^  by  the  "thorn  in  the  flesh,"  to  whom  the  Lord  said, 
"  My  grace,  in  pardoning,  accepting,"  is  sufficient  for  ihee,"  with- 
out thy  enlargemenis  and  holy  olTectioiis. 
^  Jfov.  22.  I  saw  the  Lord,  and  by  faith  did  apprehend  Christ's 
L  tighteousness,  and  did  see  tltat  I  was  to  nuke  use  of  Christ's 

L_ i 


t 

I 

I 


AND    SriBtTUAL   EXrEBtCKCES. 


figfateousness  itpprelipnili?d  by  f&itb,  not  only  for  satisfaction  to 
joslicr,  but  alwi  to  take  it  as  lui  Qvidctitw,  un«|>i)lietl,  of  tiie  Lord's 
lore  toward  me,  to  bogi!!  peace  in  me.  I  snw  I  had  a  long  lime 
made  use  of  il  for  saliefuclion,  but  oot  fur  evideni^t,  and  so  for 
peace.  For  I  saw,  when  I  had  done,  and  ibe  Lord  had  enabled 
me  to  do  this  and  do  that,  then  my  conscience  was  at  peace,  and 
fpl  pence  in  thaL  But  nlien  I  wanted  thaL  and  apprehended 
Christ's  righleouanesa  bj  faith,  all  that  which  he  hath  done  per- 
fectly. 1  did  not  there  find  peace  to  my  conscience  a^  havrDg  an 
evidence  of  the  Lord's  favor  and  acreplaiice.  Whenaa  I  «aw 
that  if  any  thing  I  did  hy  the  help  of  the  Spirit  might  give  me 
evidence,  then  much  more  all  that  which  Chrin  did  and  had 
done  perfectly  ought  to  give  me  pence,  and  be  an  evidence  not 
only  of  God's  favor  to  me.  but  of  tlial  grace  I  want,  (the  want 
of  which  made  me  doubt  of  the  Lord's  love,)  because  all  thai 
faiih  and  holiness  in  Christ  is  by  fnilli  made  mine,  and  it  is  tu  if 
I  had  done  it.  Kor  I  saw,  if  I  had  perfect  holiness  in  me,  I 
■bould  not  doubt  of  the  Lord's  love  to  me  ;  why  now,  when  1  see 
I  have  it  in'Christ  by  faith  ?  So  I  saw  a  threefold  use  of  laith  in 
Christ's  righteoasnesB :  — 
'    1.  For  satisfaction  to  divine  justice,  and  making  me  righteous; 

2.  For  evidence  of  God's  favor  to  me  ; 

3.  For  the  honor  of  God,  because  by  that  I  honor  God  in6- 

Aop.  24.  I  felt  over  niglit  much  darkness  and  unbelief,  and 
saw  that,  if  Satan  had  once  made  us  begin  to  doubt,  he  would 
hold  us  with  doubts  continually,  about  the  being  of  Uod  and 
troth  of  the  Scriptures.  And  I  saw  the  next  morning  lhi« 
error ;  viz.,  that  I  did  believe  what  the  Lord  spake,  because  I 
saw  it  agreeable  to  my  reason,  and  so  made  that  my  last  reeolo- 
tion  of  oil  doubts.  And  1  began  to  think  how  it  should  be  other- 
wise. So  I  saw  I  WHS  indeed  to  see  the  things  God  spake,  in 
the  reality  of  them,  and  in  their  agreement  with  reason,  hut  not 
to  make  this  the  Inst  resolution  of  doubts,  though  a  reeolation. 
But  then,  when  I  had  seen  things  so  agreeable  to  reason,  yet  to 
look  Diion  God's  teslimony  of  ihem  in  Scripture  as  the  last  and 
chief  light  and  ground  of  aellloraent ;  and  not  to  believe  theso 
things  are  true,  because  I  see  they  are  true,  but  to  believe  the 
liord  sees  more  clearly  than  1 ;  and  he  knowing  ibem  to  be  so, 
I  see  them  ao,  and  believe  them  upon  his  testimony,  much  more. 
For  if  I  believe  any  thing  to  be  true  because  I  see  it  so,  muoh 
more  becauHe  God  saith  it,  who  sees  it  better,  and  whose  word 
•takes  me  down,  and  confirms  me  in  it. 


r 


HEDITATtONS   AND   SPlttlTrAt    ESPEItlENCES.  439 

Dee.  4.  I  felt  a  wonderTuI  cloud  of  dni'knees  and  athewml 
over  my  head,  aiid  unbelief,  and  uy  wenkneas  lo  see  or  boiieve  I 
God./  Hul  1  saw  that  the  Lord's  ends  might  be  these  three  : — ^ 

(1.)  By  withdrawing  the  Spirit  of  liglit,  to  give  mfi  a  greater 
measure  of  it  than  ever  I  have  had  before ;  lo  give  me  a  greater 
fullness  by  praying  for  more  i  (2.)  To  humble  me  for  my  eon- 
fidenoe  in  my  light  and  knowledge  past,  and  in  ftpeaking  so 
much  with  so  little  light,  who  knew  so  little  ;  (3.)  To  heal  this 
wound  of  secret  stheism  and  unbelief,  which  was  but  skinned 
OTer  before.  I  saw  all  this  was  infinite  love  and  mercy ;  yet  1 
saw  this  condition  was  a  deep  and  deadly  misery ;  and  I  saw 
I  should  be  vile  indeed,  if  1  did  not  mourn  biiierly  under  it ; 
for  if  I  was  only  under  the  misery  of  affliclion,  the  Lord  would 
be  displeased  and  count  himself  neglected  if  I  did  not  cry,  much 
more  if  I  should  not  cry  under  the  power  of  my  sins.  This  was 
on  .Saturday  night. 

I  also  saw  a  vast  difference  between  knowing  thing)'  by  reason 
utd  discourse,  and  by  faiih,  or  the  spirit  of  faith.     For,  by  dis- 
course, (1.)  I  saw  that  a  thing  mm  so.     A  mun's  discourse  about 
s]uritual  things  is  like  a  philosopher's  discourse  about  the  inward 
fonns  of  things,  which  they  seu  not,  yet  see  that  they  be ;  bat  { 
by  the  light  of  the  spirit  of  faith  I  see  the  thing  presented  as  it  i 
is.     I  have  seen  a  God  by  reason,  and  never  been  amaccd  at 
God  ihu3  apprehended ;  but  I  have  seen  God  himself,  and  been 
ravished  to  behold  him.     And  here  I  saw  what  the  meaning  of 
Christ's  speech  is,  (John  xiv,,)  "  The  world  knows  not  ihe  Spirit," 
and  hence  "  can  not  receive  him ; "  viz.,  that  it  is  such  a  Spirit 
a«  gives  such  glimpses  of  God's  glory  and  of  Christ,  as  ttiougU  > 
it  dc|iarls,  yet  they  know  it  so  good  as  that  they  long  fur  it  again,  I 
because  they  know  it     And  here  1  caw  the  meaning  of  that  in  ' 
Job.  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,"  that  is.  reason  :  "  but  the  inspi- 
nlion  of  the  Almighty  gives  understanding,"  that  is,  lids  spirit 
of  faith. 

Dtc.  9.  On  Thursday  morning,  in  my  bed,  nfter  my  Wednes- 
day's sermon,  (I.)  I  saw  ihe  pride  of  my  heart  acting  thus;  that 
when  I  had  done  public  work,  my  heart  would  presently  look 
out  and  iiiquire  wherein  I  had  done  well  or  ill.  And  I  saw  1 
rejoiced  in  ibat  as  well  done  which  pleased  mun,  and  that  as 
done  amiss  which  might  not  be  so  i-lorious  in  the  eyes  of  man. 
Hereupon  I  saw  my  vileness,  to  make  men's  opinions  my  rule  ; 
but  then  I  saw  my  rule  to  be  this,  vix.,  lo  see  what  good  I  had 
done,  and  give  the  Lord  the  gtury ;  and  to  consider  wluU  siu  I 
had  committed,  and  to  mourn  for  ihal.  (2.)  Here  I  saw  a 
deceit,  viz.,  to  preach  and  pray,  to  uir  up  spiritual  aifeclioiu,    . 


L 


I 


SPIUITUAL    ESPERIKNCES. 


I 


440  MEI>1TAT10K9   I 

bfcause  I  Mkw  il  did  beget  commendalions ;  hence  preached  tenvir 
and  comfort  (though  faUe)  to  b«get  uffeclion.  I  saw  jilso,  upon 
CDlnrgeinenls,  I  wiu  Mpt  tu  be  somewhat  in  mine  own  eyes,  where- 
as my  rule  ih,  to  be  more  vile  than  any  man  in  mj  own  ejes, 
I  and  thai  daily. 

I  Dee.  10.  I  began  to  be  troubled  for  my  sin  of  passion  ;  but  I 
P  flaw  my  heart  did  work  thus:  (1.)  tt  wna  troubled  for  llie  shame 
'  and  horror  of  sin;  (2.)  Purposed  j(3.)  Went  to  Christ  for  strength 
that  I  might  do  ao  no  roorei  and  so  was  ({uiet^  Whureas  I 
Raw  it  H'as  my  duly,  (1.)  To  j<;et  my  soul  deeply  londen  with  lite 
sin,  as  sin;  (2.)  To  come  unto  Christ,  and  get  his  blood  to  give 
me  peace  unspeakable.  Now,  in  musing  on  this,  I  saw  how 
liltLe  repentance  there  was  in  the  world,  and  how  many  fins  I  Imd 
etill  to  relent  of.  For  I  saw  that  most  men  had  their  peace 
after  gin,  either  by  forgetfulness  of  it  wholly,  and  so  had  ibeir 
sorrows  now  and  then ;  or  else  they  did  but  skin  over  their  wound 
with  some  general  hope  of  mercy  aud  grace,  without  sweet  peace 
in  Christ's  blood.  And  hence  my  heart  was  very  glad  for  this 
light,  in  seeing  this  general  wound. 

I  saw  here  also  tlie  reason  why  men  given  to  passion  are  so 
frequently  overcorao  by  it ;  because  of  all  other  sins  they  have 
many  secret  excuses  and  extenuations  for  ii ;  as  the  suddenness  of 
it,  and  il  is  that  I  delight  iiol  in,  and  my  heart  is  sad  for  it  after- 
ward, and  godly  men  may  fall  into  il. 

I  saw  also  there  was  all  reason  why  I  should  cleave  to  ibe 
Lord.  1.  Because  all  my  good  was  from  him  in  tiroes  of  peace. 
i.  Because  he  was  my  only  support  in  lime  of  trouble.  3.  He 
alone  was  sufficient,  when  after  lite  all  troubles  should  end.  4.  I 
began  to  see  how  good  his  hiH  was  in  all,  and  tliat  even  when 
It  crossed  me  I  should  be  pleased  with  it.  __ 

I  also  began  to  ftel  Uod  in  fire,  meal,  every  providence,  and 
that  God's  many  providences  and  creatures  are  but  his  hands 
aud  fijigers,  wherL-by  he  lakes  hold  of  me,  etc 

Dec.  11.  On  Saturday,  at  night,  I  was  stirred  up  to  pray  for 
the  Spirit ;  not  only  for  particular  graces  of  it,  but  for  the  Spint 
itself.     The  ground  of  this  my  jirayer  was, — 

(1.)  Because  I  fuh  an  absence  of  the  Spirit  exceeding  much. 
I  found  I  was  sensual  and  carnal,  and  carried  and  acted  by  tnj 
own  spirit  iq  every  thing.  HowL-ver,  I  felt  a  little  of  Uod's 
8[)irit  smoking  tbrlh  in  some  weak  desires  after  il;  1  felt  not  the 
power  of  it,  according  as  I*aul  did,  hound  by  it,  led  with  it.  (Acta 
I.)  "  Power  fi-om  on  high."  (2.)  Because  I  saw  this  the  next 
and  surest  way  to  have  all  the  graces  of  the  Spirit ;  to  have  all 
the  impressions  of  tliis  seal,  by  having  ihe  seal  itself.     Wfa«reaa 


^^   and  surest 
^H  the  imprest 


ITEDITATIONS   AKD   SriKITCAL   FXPERICKCES.  441 

if  I  wrought  for  one  partiuuUr  grace  wilhont  IhU,  il  was  far  about. 
(3.)  Iteeause  ihe  Spirit  can  heal,  help,  quicken,  humble,  suddenly 
anil  cneily.  Whereas  otherwise  I  may  be  long  before  I  cau  see. 
(4.)  Because  it  works  grace  and  life  effectually.  My  own  spirit, 
and  light,  aud  AtTcetiou  may  dcceire  me  when^'they  act;  but 
thie  can  n^     (A.)  Because  il  works  grace  eterually,  aa  itself  ia 

I  also  here  saw  two  great  hioderaDccs  for  me  in  getting  this 
Spirit;  (1.)  1  contenied  myself  with  a  little  measure  of  it,  and 
BO  Bet  down ;  (2.)  I  thought  God  would  not  give  more,  and 
hence  I  ought  (orest  without  seekiug  after  more. 

Here  ako  fell  in  two  ijueslionB:  Qtutt.  1.  IVhether,  wheo 
a.  Christian  feels  a  waot  of  the  light  of  life  and  faith  of  the  Spirit, 
be  should  ouly  humble  himself  for  the  want  of  them,  aud  do 
nothing  in  way  of  meditation  and  stirring  up  his  heart  to  see 
and  do,  or  stir  up  that  ability  be  hod  to  sec,  and  live,  and  do. 
For  I  saw  this,  that  when  a  man  finds  a  loss  of  God,  either  be 
is  wholly  in  the  dark,  and  can  not  see  him ;  or  else  Sai«n  and  hia 
own  natural  abilities  will  he  working  and  c^siing  in  light,  that  so 
a  man  might  be  contented  wiih  that  and  seek  no  farther  for  tie 
Spirit  of  Ught,  nor  feel  such  a  need  of  it ;  Satan  and  nature  by 
tl^ir  work  will  prevent  the  Lord's. 

Ajit.  To  this  I  saw,  (1.)  That  the  Scripture  bids  memcditate 
and  use  all  means  for  the  Spirit,  and  therefore  not  to  confine  my- 
self (o  that  one  means  only,  of  being  humbled  for  the  want  of  lh« 
Spirit  (2.)  That  the  rule  here  is.  We  must  use  all  means,  but 
trust  to  the  Spirit  to  give  a  blessing  by  them,  depend  only,  and 
wait  only  for  the  light  of  God  in  the  use  of  means. 

QatU.  2.  Whether  it  was  a  duty,  or  an  error,  to  pray  and 
look  fur  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit  in  me,  without  coming  by  faith 
out  of  myself,  and  so  finding  and  feeling  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit 
out  of  me  in  Christ ;  and  whether  I  might  not  be  mistaken,  and 
think  I  was  empty  of  the  Spirit,  l>ecause  I  did  not  feel  it  in  me, 
when  haply  of  the  time  when  1  am  most  empty,  I  might  be  mo«l 
full,  by  faith  in  Christ ;  and  whether  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  apostles  was  not  chiefly  a  power  of  the  Spirit,  giving  them 
a  subsistence  out  of  themselves  in  Christ,  in  whom  their  life  and 
joy  was ;  seeing  tlut  I'aul  oft  complains  of  his  sin,  and  insuf- 
ficiency and  inability  to  think  or  speak. 

An$.  Here  1  saw  these  things:  1.  That  Christ  had  all 
folloess.  and  so  all  fullness  of  the  Spirit.  S.  That  all  that  full- 
ness which  I  did  want  in  myself  wax  in  Christ,  for  bis  pcoplr,  not 
for  himself.   He  had  perfect  knowledge, and  grace,and  righteous- 


I 


1  443 


XEI>ITATtO\3 


>  srmrrrAL  experiences. 


>l  only  that  bj  it  lie  might  virtually  make  me  see  nod  be 
,  but  that  it  miglit  be  mine.  3.  I  saw  it  my  datj 
I,  out  of  sense  of  my  emptiness,  to  go  unio  Christ,  and 
BB  and  enjoy  all  that  fullnesa  that  is  in  him,  as  mine  onu ; 
and  to  be  as  much  filled  nilh  that,  and  to  rejoice  as  much  in  that, 
as  if  I  had  it  in  myself,  because  it  is  for  me  in  Christ,  And  my 
own  there.  4.  I  saw,  when  I  did  thus,  then  I  was  full  of  the 
Spirit :  and  that  I  was  now  as  a  fish  that  is  got  from  the  sliore  to 
the  sea,  where  it  hath  all  fullness  of  waters  to  move  in  ;  and  so  I 
saw  faith  did  first  fill  me,  and  should  first  fill  me.  When  I  was 
roost  empty,  then  by  faith  I  was  most  full.  5.  I  saw  this  was 
the  way  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit,  to  my  feeling  within  me. 
Stephen  was  full' of  faith,  and  then  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  (1.)  Be- 
cause ibis  made  me  most  empty,  and  so  most  fit  for  the  Spirit  to 
work  in.  (2.)  Because  this  finding  of  the  treasure  of  all  grace 
in  this  field  of  Christ  did  beget  strength,  joy,  glory,  and  so  made 
graces  alive.  (3.)  Because  I  should  glory  more  in  what  I  re- 
ceive from  Christ,  than  in  that  fullness  which  is  in  Christ,  the 
fountain  of  all  his  glocy  and  my  good  and  glory,  if  I  should  firtt 
receive  the  Spirit  from  him,  without  finding,  and  filling  and 
drinking  in  of  that  Spirit  which  is  in  him.  6.  I  saw  a  need 
for  the  Lord  to  this  end  to  do  two  things:  (1.)  To  Btablish  me  in 
Christ,  and  settle  me  there,  and  give  me  a  being  there.  (2.)  To 
give  me  a  certainty  thai  all  this  w 
would  fill  my  heart  and  soul. 

The  conclusion  of  all  was,  I  wi 
Spirit,  and  not  to  give  the  Lord  o 

Dec.  IS.     I  saw  it  my  duty  so  ti 


e ;  for  I  saw  this  only 

9  resolved  to  pray  for  the 
er  for  it. 
)  lament  i 


I,  as  that  my 
sorrow  should  swallow  up  all  the  joy  I  took  in  any  thing  in 
this  world.  And  here  I  remembered  what  it  was  to  nillict  one's 
emil,  vix.,  to  make  sin  as  bitter  as  nflliclion,  and  to  make  it  my 
affliction. 

Dte.  20.  I  saw  my  evil,  (1.)  That  I  had  much  ado  to  see  my 
■in  i  (2.)  But  much  more  dillicult  was  it  to  mourn  lor  it,  as  my 
(lonth,  and  to  be  in  travail  with  it,  and  in  pangs  and  sorrows  for 
It,  llml  I  might  be  delivered  out  of  it. 

[  <aw  alK>  on  the  Sabbath,  vii.,  the  day  before,  December 
JlO,  how  my  heart  gathered  evil  in  every  place,  as  Ps.  Ivii.  And 
It  t|ulbi<n<d,  ollliur,  (1.)  Carnal  content,  or,  (2.)  Discontent,  by 
itrikiii)!  ii|)un  cKtcmul  objects. 

ilK-.  !J1.  I  >aw  ihat  man  was  an  infinite  kind  of  evil  wh«n 
Im  U  ciiutnd  1  u>  in  hell,  there  he  blasphemes  because  crossed. 
Awl  lt»n>'t'  mcii'i  lin*  lit>  bid,  because  not  crossed. 


■■ 


MEDITATIONS   AND   SPIRITUAL   EXPERIENCES. 


448 


I  saw  also  the  deceit  of  man's  heart ;  which  when  it  is  very 
bad,  then  it  begins  to  seek  to  be  verj  good ;  if  it  have  and  feel 
anj  goody  it  grows  full,  .and  lifted  up,  and  loose. 

Die.  27.  Grod  hnmbled  me  in  some  measure :  (1.)  Making  me 
see  how  I  deserved  death,  and  nothing  but  etemfd  death,  and 
that  it  belonged  to  me  as  mj  due,  which  made  me  wonder  I  had 
anj  mercj;  (2.)  Making  me  desirous  to  feel  sin  the  greatest 
evil,  and  to  prize  deliverance  from  it  as  out  of  helL 

I  saw  also,  (1.)  How  miserable  I  was  if  I  had  no  favor;  (2.) 
How  precious  his  favor  was;  f3.)  How  exceeding  precious 
Christ  was,  bj  whom  I  came  to  have  all  favor ;  and  how  pre- 
cious his  blood  was,  so  as  I  desired  to  rejoice  in  nothing  but  in 
Christ. 


ill  I 


■■■■■MHL^ 


THE 


CLEAR  SUNSHLNE  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


BBIAKING  FOBTH   UPON  TUB 


INDIANS    IN   NEW   ENGLAND; 


OB, 


AN    HISTORICAL    NARRATION 


or 


GOD'S  WONDERFUL  WORKINGS  rPON  SUNDRY  OF  THE  INDIANS,  BOTH  CHIEF 

UOVEBNORS  AND  COMMON  PEOPLE,  IN  BRINGING  THEM  TO  A  WILUNQ 

AND  DESIRED  SUBMISSION  TO  THE  ORDINANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL* 

AND    FRAMING    TUEIR   HEARTS    TO   AN   EARNEST   INQUIRY 

AFTER  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD  THE  FATHER,  AND 

OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  THE  SAVIOUR  OF  THE  WORLa 


BY 

THOMAS    SHEPARD, 

MimsTBK  or  TMB  ooincL  or  jKtca  c«ri«t  at  cambriimik,  iir  vbw  bholavik 


"  And  it  uluill  come  to  pMi  In  lh«  ImI  d«7a,  Chat  Ibe  mavnteln  of  the  Loid*t  booM  sImII 
be  ettabllthed  in  tb«  top  of  tb*  movataln*,  nad  shall  be  rxaltad  abora  tbv  hllU,  aad  all 
nationa  iiball  Sow  unto  It  And  manj  peopla  aball  ao  aad  Mr,  Coma  ya.  aad  let  va  fo  m 
to  the  moantain  of  tbe  IxmL  lo  the  booae  oTtba  Ood  of  Jacob,  and  be  will  teach  oa  of  hif 


w«7«,  and  we  will  walk  In  bb  patba  t  ftir  owt  of  Zioa  shall  go  ibrth  a  law,  and  Iha  won!  or 
the  Lord  from  Jenualem."  —  Isaiam  iL%X 


TOL.  Ilk 


BOSTON: 

DOCTRINAL  TRACT  AND  BOOK  SOCIETY. 

1853. 


» 


»  i    ! 


Hi 


TO   THE   BIGHT   HONORABLE 


THE    LORDS    AND    COMMONS 


ASSEMBLED  IN  HIGH  COURT  OF  PARLIAMENT. 


Right  Honorable:  These  few  sheets  present  unto  jour 
view  a  short  but  welcome  discourse  of  the  visitations  of  the 
Most  High  upon  the  saddest  spectacles  of  degeneracy  upon 
earth  —  the  poor  Indian  people.  The  distance  of  place  (if  our 
spirits  be  right)  will  be  no  lessening  of  the  mercj,  nor  of  our 
thankfulness,  that  Christ  is  glorified ;  that  the  gospel  doth  an j 
where  find  footing  and  success,  is  a  mercy  as  well  worthy  the 
praise  of  the  saints  on  earth  as  the  joy  of  the  angels  in  heaven. 
The  report  of  this  mercy  is  first  made  to  you,  who  are  the  rep- 
resentative of  this  nation,  that  in  you  England  might  be  stirred 
up  to  be  rejoicers  in,  and  advancers  of,  these  promising  begin- 
nings ;  and  because  to  you  an  ftocount  is  first  due  of  the  success 
of  the  gospel  in  those  dark  comers  of  the  world  which  have 
been  so  much  enlightened  by  your  favor,  enlivened  by  your 
resolutious,  encouraged  by  your  forepast  endeavors  for  Grod,  and 
hope  still  being  parts  of  yourselves,  to  be  further  strengthened 
by  your  benign  aspects  and  bountiful  influences  on  them. 

The  present  troubles  have  not  so  far  obliterated  and  worn  out 
the  sad  impressions  which  former  times  have  made  upon  our 
spirits,  but  we  can  sadly  remember  those  destructive  designs 
which  were  on  foot,  and  carried  on  for  the  introduction  of 
so  great  evils,  both  in  church  and  state ;  in  order  to  which  it 
was  the  endeavor  of  the  contrivers  and  promoters  of  those  de- 

447 


«f  thdr  Ivre. 

Ood,  who  talk  tltfmmt^^^tr'B^* 
tdtmamnitl  the  rickn  of  iit  ■ 
Mt  UmI  war  «M  doM  bj  tht  mm  if  as — Ac  ■ 
ChrUt  —  fifxi  nade  MTTHuUe  l»  lh«  IJi^Ma  fMfan 
Md  r»'irr7  thmt  canM  upoB  kfa  tRHt;  *M  G^  4m*  Am  *« 
Im  ha>l  rrH-rrirul  rnda  in  lUi  iktir  aalMMK  pvyMB,  ■•  ka 
lufTi'mil  I'ltnl  UiIm!  fjut  into  priMBto  navcrt  thcjdv,  IsW 
rtitpwrc-kiHl  lU  Mcltu,  to  pr«ftdi  lo  due  bnbuoM,  »  W  hF- 
ftiwil  llinir  wuy  In  In  iitop|>e<I  up  here,  (Act*  zm.  33, S4;  xxwwi. 
t,  ».)  luxl  lli^lr  pf-Tnoni  to  be  bMiHhed  heoce,  that  he  b^ 
•pan  »  |iiwinK'<  Tur  them  in  the  wildeneM,  aad  Make  ikem  im- 
DtriimnDli  Ui  Oraw  kuIn  to  htm,  who  had  be«i  ao  hiiiji.  iHiaiigid 
fr(.tn  hi  III. 

ll  ma*  ihn  nml  of  tlio  ulvoTsar^  to  rappraa,  bat  GoTt  to  prop- 
•Ifiiln  lh«  KiMpH)  (hciri  lo  nnotber  and  pot  oat  the  tigbt, 
(JiiiVii  lit  luiinmniih'atn  nml  dlnpene  it  to  the  utmost  tamers  of 
Ihn  HuiHi  I  thAl  otin  Diilth  or  Taul,*  his  hlindnes^  gare  light 
tu  llio  whiilx  worlil,  10  W(i  hupB  God  will  make  their  distance  and 
I  t*ltKiiK«i1iiiu>  l>oiu  UK  n  ineunn  of  bringing  many  near  and  into 
i  iiHiUHliilniiuH  with  him. 

Inilwail,  a  linig  tlnm  It  wan  bofore  God  let  them  see  any  further 

mil  of  Ihnlr  wimlnji  ovnr    than  to   preserve  their  eonsciene**, 

KitiarUh   Ihiilr  urari^.,  provide  for  their  euslenance  ;    but  when 

\  |r»*l.l0iiiw«   Invtidd  ilmir  return,  he  let  them  know  it  was  for 

|f  Hlim  (Itrili^t  .iri-aiid  Umt  ho  brought  them  hither,  giving  them 

•  fmiliiu  IVill  icllui  ur!.l,  illuraluatio.     (Acts  \x.  9.) 


some  bunches  of  grapca,  some  clusters  of  figs,  in  earnest  of  b 
prosperous  succcsa  of  tliulr  cmlenrars  upon  tliose  poor  outcn»ta. 
(Pa.  ii.  a.  Is.  It.  10-12;  xt.  S,  10.  Luke  x.  1.)  The  utmost 
eods  of  the  earth  are  designed  and  promised  to  be  in  time  the 
possessions  of  Christ ;  and  he  sends  bis  minislers  into  every 
place  wliere  lie  himself  intends  to  come  and  luke  possession. 
Wliere  the  ministry  is  ihe  harbinger  and  goes  before,  Christ  and 
grace  will  ceriainlj  follow  after. 

This  litlle  we  see  is  something  in  hand,  to  earnest  to  us  those 
tilings  which  are  in  hope  ;  something  in  poisscssion,  to  assure  us 
of  the  rest  in  promise,  when  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  see  his 
glory,  and  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  shall  become  tlie  kingdoms 
of  the  Lord  >ind  his  Christ,  when  be  shall  have  dominion  from 
sea  to  SCO,  and  ihvy  that  dwell  in  the  wilderness  shall  bow  be- 
fore him.  (P«.  xsii.  27.  Rev.  sL  15.  Ps.  Ixxii.  8-U.)  And 
if  the  dawn  of  the  morning  be  so  delightful,  what  will  the  clear 
day  be  ?  If  the  first  fruits  be  so  precious,  what  will  the  whole 
harvest  be?  If  some  beginnings  be  so  full  of  joy,  what  will  it 
be  when  God  shall  perform  his  whole  work,  when  the  wbolo 
earth  sliall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea,  (Is.  xi.  9,  10,)  and  cast  and  west  slioU  sing  together 
the  song  of  ihe  Lnmb  ? 

In  order  to  this,  wliat  duth  God  require  of  us,  but  that  we 
should  strengthen  the  hands  and  encourage  the  hejLTts  of  those 
who  are  at  work  for  him,  conflicting  with  difficulties,  and  wres- 
tling with  discouragements,  to  spread  the  gospel,  and,  in  thai,  the 
fame  and  honor  of  this  oation,  to  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth? 
It  was  the  design  of  your  eiumiu  to  make  them  litlle ;  let  it  be 
gour  endeavor  to  make  them  great;  their  greatness  u  your 
sireugih.  Their  enemies  threatened  iheir  hands  should  rencb 
them  for  evil ;  God  disappointed  them ;  and  let  your  hands 
reach  them  now  for  good.  There  is  enough  in  tliem  to  speak 
them  fit  objcctsof  your  encouragement.  They  are  men  of  choice 
■piritd,  nut  frighted  with  dangers,  softened  with  allurements,  uor 
L  disooumged  with  difficulties,  preparing  the  way  uf  thu  Lord  in 
e  unpiusoble  placet  of  the  e4trth,  dealing  with  such  whom 


450 


TO  THE  UIGH   COlItT   OK   PAKLUSIEKT. 


Ihey  are  to  mnke  men,  berore  they  can  make  ihem  ChristiaiH. 
They  are  such  who  arc  impreMed  lor  your  service  in  the  eerviee 
of  Christ,  Qoa  siuud  alone,  but  desire  to  have  dependence  ot 
They  fL-ar  not  the  niuUcc  of  their  eoemie^,  but  desire  the 
tenance  and  enuourti^emeat  of  their  friends.  And  shaU  jour 
honors,  in  coQsiduntlion  of  their  former  suffering,  their  present 
service  and  real  desi'rrings,  help  the  day  of  small  thiags  among 
them,  —  Bhull  yuu  interest  them  in  your  assislaneee,  as  you  are 
interested  in  their  aftecltons,  —  you  will,  thereby,  not  only  further 
thew  beginnings  of  God  by  encouraging  their  hearts  and  strength- 
ening their  bands  to  work  for  him,  but  al^o  (as  we  humbly  con- 
ceive) much  add  to  the  comfort  of  your  own  accounts  in  the  day 
of  llie  Lord,  and  lay  greater  obligations  on  them  yet  more  to 
pray  for  you,  to  promote  your  councils,  and  together  with  us 
your  unworthy  serrantg  to  write  down  themselves, 


1 

t 


Your  humbly  devoted  in  the  a 

Stf.i>hen  Marshall, 
Jebeut  Wbitaker, 
Edu.  Calamt, 
William  Greenhill, 
jobn  downam, 
Philip  Nte, 


e  of  the  gospel, 
Su>.  Stjipsom, 

WlLLIAJlCA.ItTBS, 

Tho.  GooDwra, 
Tho.  Case, 
SiuoN  Ashe, 
Sauuel  Boltoh. 


THE  GODLY  AND  WELL-AFFECTED 


OF  THIS   KISCnOM  OF   EJJC.LAND  WHO    PRAY   FOR. 

AND    RjyoiCE    IN.    THE    THHIVISGS    OF    TUB 

GOSPEL  OK   OUH   LOUD  JESUS   CHHIST. 


I 


Christian  Klader:  If  ever  thou  bndst  experience  of 
this  liny  of  power,  these  visiuiiions  of  Cliri«t  u]K>ti  thine  own 
spirit,  I  suppose  tliee  to  be  one  who  hast  emliurkeU  man;  pniy-~ 
ers  for  the  success  of  the  fros|>el  in  ihoee  lUirk  L-ornt^rs  of  the 
curlh,  lo  slrengliiim  thy  faiih,  cDlarge  thy  Lt^url,  and  assure  1I17 
soul  ihat  God  u  a  God  henring  prayora.  An  account  is  here 
given  to  Ihee  of  the  conipteMs  of  ihc  Lonl  Jesuit  Cliribt  apon 
these  poor  outeasts,  who  liave  thus  long  been  eslran^d  from 
him,  spilt  lilte  wnler  npon  the  ground,  and  none  lo  gather  them. 
Formerly  tliou  liacUt  llie  daybreak,  gome  dawnings  of  light,  after 
a  long  and  blaek  nigbt  of  diu-kneM ;  here  thou  scest  the  sun  is  up, 
which  we  hope  will  rejoice  like  ihc  >trong  man  to  run  iU  race, 
scattering  those  thick  cloudx  of  darkness,  and  ithining  brighter 
and  brighter,  till  it  rome  lo  a  perfect  day.  Ttie«e  few  sheets 
give  tbee  some  footing  for  such  llioughls,  and  some  further  en- 
couragements to  wail  and  pray  for  the  accomplishment  of  such 
things.  Uero  thou  mayeat  sec  the  ministry  is  precious,  the  feet 
of  them  who  bring  glad  tidings  beautiful,  ordinances  desired,  the 
word  Irequenied  and  attended,  the  Spirit  also  going  forth  in 
power,  and  eSicocy  with  it,  in  awakening  and  humbling  of  them, 
drawing  forth  those  affections  of  sorrow,  and  expressions  of  tears 
in  abundance,  which  no  tortures  or  extremities  « 
•erred  to  force  from  them,  with  lamenting.     We  read  here  their 

k leaving  of  sin ;  ihey  forsake  their  former  evil  ways,  and  set  up 
fences  never  to  return,  by  making  law*  for  the  punishment  of 


I 


452 


■    ANB    WELL-AFFECTED. 


I 
I 


sinB  wbereby  Ihej  liave  lived,  and  to  which  they  Lave  been 
L'h  adilicted.  Tliey  set  up  prayers  in  their  families  luom- 
id  eveuing,  and  are  in  eumcst  in  tlicm ;  and  with  more  af- 
1  they  crave  God's  blessing  u)>on  a  little  parched  com,  and 
Indian  Blntkg,  timn  many  of  us  do  upon  our  greatest  plenty  and 
abundanee.  They  rest  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  make  laws  Ibr 
the  observance  of  it,  wherein  ihey  meet  together  to  pray  and 
instruct  one  another  in  the  things  of  God,  which  have  been  com- 
municated to  them.  They  renounce  Iheir  diabolical  charms  and 
charmers,  and  many  of  those  who  were  practitioners  in  these  sinful 
uid  soul-undoing  arts,  being  made  nalced,  convinced  and  ashamed 
of  their  evil,  forsake  their  way,  and  betake  themselves  to  prayer, 
preferring  the  Christian  clinnn  before  their  diabolical  EpelU ;  herc- 
in  God  making  good  that  promise,  (Zc|ih.  ii.  II,)  "I  will  famii^h 
all  the  gods  of  the  earth  ; "  (which  he  doili  by  willidrawing  the 
.worshipers,  and  throwing  contempt  upon  the  worship ;)  ■*  and 
men  shull  worship  me  alone,  every  one  from  his  place,  even  all 
the  isles  of  the  heathens." 

All  these  are  hopeful  presages  thai  God  is  going  out  in  his 
power  and  grace  to  conquer  a  people  to  himself ;  that  he  begins  to 
cast  an  owning  look  on  them,  wliom  he  hath  so  long  neglected 
and  despised.  And  indeed  God  may  well  seek  out  for  other 
ground  to  sow  the  seed  of  his  ordinances  upon,  seeing  the  gronnd 
where  it  hath  been  sown  Imili  brought  forth  no  belter  fruii  to 
him  ;  he  may  well  bespeak  another  people  to  himself,  seeing  he 
6nds  no  l>eller  enierlainmenl  among  the  |ieople  he  haih  espoused 
to  him;  and  tliiit  by  so  many  mercies,  privileges,  end earmentt, 
nod  engagements.  We  have  as  many  sad  symptoms  of  a  de- 
clining as  tliose  poor  outcasts  have  had  presages  of  n  rising  sun 
among  them.  The  ordinances  are  as  much  contemned  here  as 
frequented  tiere  ;  tlie  ministry  as  much  dii<cuuragcd  hfTt  as  em- 
braced there  :  religion  as  much  derided,  the  ways  of  godlineei 
us  much  scorned,  here  as  they  can  be  wished  and  desired  there. 
Generally  we  are  Rick  of  plenty  ;  we  surfeit  of  our  abundtuice, 
the  worst  of  surfeits  -,  and  with  our  loathed  manna  and  disdained 
food,  Giud  is  preparing  them  a  talile  in  the  wilderness,  wliere  oar 
satieties  will  be  their  sufficiencies,   out  complaints  their  contents. 


TO   THE  QODLT  AND    WELL-At'FECTED.  453 

our  burdens  their  comrorts.  If  lie  can  nut  have  an  England 
kere,  be  can  have  nn  England  lAere,  and  baptise  and  adopt 
them  into  tliose  privileges  which  we  have  looked  upon  as  our 
bnnlena.  We  have  sud  decays  upon  ua ;  we  are  a  revolting 
nation,  a  peoplu  guilty  of  great  defeellon  from  Gtwl.  Some  fall 
from  the  worship  of  God  to  their  old  superstitions,  and  corrupt 
worship.  Buying  with  ihoee  in  Jeremy,  "  It  was  better  with  ua 
than  now."  Some  fall  from  (be  doclrjnea  of  grace  lo  errors, 
some  to^lamnahle,  otliers  to  defiling,  some  to  destructive,  others 
to  corruptive  opinions.  Some  fall  from  professed  seeming  holi- 
ness to  sin  and  profaneness,  who,  like  hlaiing  comets,  did  bhine 
bright  for  a  time,  but  after  have  set  in  a  night  of  diiriiness.  We 
have  many  sad  symptoms  on  us  ;  we  decay  under  all  the  means 
of  nourishment,  are  barren  under  God's  sowings,  dry  under  all 
the  dews,  droppings  and  showers  of  heaven,  like  that  country 
frbereof  historians  speak,  where  drought  causeth  dirt,  and 
■bowers  cause  dust,  {tieeita*  dat  lulum,  imbrt$  puinram.) 
And  what  doth  God  threaten  herein  but  to  remove  the  candle- 
sticks, to  take  away  the  gospel,  the  streams  whereof  have  bron^it 
so  many  ships  laden  with  blessings  to  our  shore — that  gospel  un- 
der the  shadow  whereof  we  have  sat  down  and  been  refreshed 
these  many  years  ?  Where  tlie  power  is  lost.  God  will  not  long 
continue  the  form  ;  where  the  bent  b  gone,  he  will  not  long  con- 
tinue the  light.  The  temple  did  not  preserve  the  Jews  when 
their  hearts  were  the  synagogues  of  Satan,  nor  shall  any  out- 
ward privilege  hold  us  up  when  the  inward  power  is  down  in 
our  spirits.  God  hath  forsaken  other  churches  as  eminent  as 
erer  Englsind  was.  Where  are  the  churches  of  Asia,  once  famoua 
for  the  gosjiel,  for  general  couneils,  now  places  for  Zcim  and 
Ochim,  their  habitation  desolate  ?  Where  ore  those  ancient 
people  of  the  Jews  who  were  {ieyutla  mieol  haynamim)  his 
peculiar  and  chosen  people  of  all  nations?  They  are  scattered 
abroad  OS  a  curse,  and  their  place  knows  them  no  more.  And 
shull  I  tell  you,  God  hath  no  need  of  us  ?  He  can  coll  them 
Onomrai,  his  people,  who  were  Lognammi,  not  his  people,  and 
them  beloved  who  were  not  beloved.  Indeed,  be  halh  held  np 
Qt  OS  if  be  had  not  known  where  lo  have  another  people,  if  he 


iw^MaAo^kn  bn  ^t  hatkaam.  God  halb  M 
■mI  «f  m  ;  he  i^  «■«  ■•  |  Bipli  if  ke  |JeMe  to  caU  :  if  be 
^^«di*e<««t^ifcc««UikdnM^Kr  u>d  lara  dUo 
Ar  LaH,  Mi  ■■  Ae  k»^cA  of  ike  MlioM  dMlI  <  onkip  before 
Um.  (P».  xxa.  27,  S8.  1&  xL  9,  IOl)  IT  be  set  up  his  eUuxJud, 
M kte  ^d  Ik  riMflii  a«(k,  Mi  dw  eMtk diaU  be  fiiH  of  the 
hagrirfge  of  the  I^ri,  u  tke  wmbo  com  tbe  sea.  It  is  dm  for 
w«d,bai  far  lore,  ikal  God  t^Ua  withEa^aiid;  and  there  ti 
aoihiag  oM  of  hiwirlf  tbe  inaealiTC  of  tU*  lore.  (Amat  Dtu$, 
mm  akimit  hoc  Aofa.  mi  ipm  erf  mtlU  ^tat.  Aug.)  There  ckn 
be.  DO  rcMOB  pna  «bf  God  (boaU  fcnee  m,  and  euffer  other 
plaoM  lo  lie  wane;  that  we  ihonld  be  his  garden,  and  other 
placea  a  wildeme» ;  that  he  sbonld  feed  as  inlh  the  bread  of 
heaven,  and  suffer  otbera  to  sture, — men  of  the  same  mold, 
hit  ofiapiing  as  well  aa  we,  — and  such  (did  he  conqaer  to  htm- 
■eU)  were  likel;  to  do  him  tnore  serTice,  bring  him  more  glor^, 
than  we  have  done.  We  see  something  here  done  in  order  to 
■uch  a  work  i  our  harvest  U  much  over ;  we  see  tittle  incomes, 
there  we  see  the  fields  ore  ripe  tor  harrest.  Here  the  minUlr^  is 
contemned,  there  the  feet  of  them  that  bring  gind  tidings  are 
beautiful.  We  have  outlined  the  power  and  efficacy  of  ordi- 
naoces,  there  God  goes  forth  with  life  anil  power ;  we  can  out- 
sit the  most  epealting  and  winning  discoveries  of  Christ,  there 
every  notion  breeds  motion  in  them.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
much  departed  from  us,  there  his  rising  is  conspicuous  and  glo- 
rious. The  bliud  man  found  it  good  to  be  in  the  way  where 
Cliriflt  wime.  And  who  would  be  in  Egypt  when  there  is  light 
in  Go&licn  ?  O  ibat  England  would  be  quickened  by  their 
risings,  und  weep  over  her  own  declininga  1  What  a  wonder  is 
it  that  they  should  do  so  much,  and  we  ho  little ;  that  they  should  be 
men  in  their  infancy,  and  we  such  children  in  our  manhood ;  that 
they  80  active,  we  su  dead.  That  which  was  Hierom's  complaint 
may  be  ours  —  "  O  thai  infidelity  should  do  thai  whiuli  chose  who 
profess  themaelvea  believers  can  not  do  !  "    We  have  the  light  of 


TO  THE   GODLT  AND    WELL-AFFECTED.  455 

former  times,  but  want  the  heat.  (Hfu  !  qiiod  prtcMUU  infidelitat 
quod  nan  praililit  Jidtt.  Ignit  ijiti  in  parentibui  futl  calidHi 
in  uobia  lucidut.)  Knowledge  Rbounds  as  the  waters  cover  the 
■ea,  but  wc  want  tbe  Ball.  We  have  u  form  of  godlinesa,  but  we 
want  the  power  ;  and  it  will  be  small  comfort  should  God  con- 
tinue to  us  tbe  form,  and  carry  lo  others  ihc  i>ower ;  to  suBer  us 
to  waste  ourselves  with  unnecessary  braagles,  (which  are  the 
sweat  of  the  times,)  uid  in  the  mean  to  carry  the  life  and  power 
of  religion  unto  others. 

Let  these  poor  Indians  stand  up,  incentives  to  us,  as  the  apostle 
•et  up  the  Gentiles  a  provocation  lo  the  Jews.  (Rom.  i 
Who  knows  but  God  gave  life  to  New  England  to  quicken  Old. 
and  halh  warmed  them  that  they  might  heat  us,  raised  them  from 
the  dead  that  they  might  recover  us  from  that  consumption  and 
those  sad  decays  which  are  come  upon  us  ? 

This  small  treatise  is  an  essay  to  ibat  end  —  an  Indian  sermon : 
though  you  will  not  bear  us,  possibly,  when  some  rise  from  the 
dead,  you  will  hear  them.  The  main  doctrine  it  preacheth  unto 
all  is  to  value  tlie  gospel,  priie  the  ministry,  loathe  not  your  man- 
na, surfeit  not  of  your  plenty,  be  thankful  for  mercies,  fruitful 
under  means.  Awake  from  your  slumber,  repair  your  decays, 
redeem  your  time,  improve  the  seasons  of  your  peace,  answer  to 
calls,  open  to  knocks,  attend  to  whispers,  obey  commands.  You 
hare  a  name  you  live,  take  heed  you  be  not  dead.  You  are 
Christians  in  show,  be  so  in  deed :  lest,  as  you  have  lost  the  power, 
God  take  away  from  you  the  form  also. 

And  you  that  are  ministers,  leam  by  this  not  lo  despond,  though 
you  see  not  present  fruit  of  your  labors  ;  though  you  llsh  all  night 
and  catch  nothing,  God  hath  a  fullness  of  them  to  perform  alt 
his  purjxtses.  And  the  deepest  degeneracies  and  widest  estrange* 
menta  from  God  sliall  be  no  bar  or  obstacle  to  the  power  and 
freeness  of  his  own  grace,  when  that  time  is  come. 

And  you  that  are  merchants,  take  encouragement  from  benco 
to  scatter  the  beams  of  light,  to  spread  and  propagate  the  gospel 
into  ibose  dark  corners  of  the  earth  whither  jou  traffic :  you 
take  much  from  them ;  if  you  can  carry  this  to  them,  you  will 
make  them  an  abuudant  recompense. 


I 
I 


436  TO   THE    GODLT    AXD    WELL- AFP KCTKD. 

Ami  joa  ibu  are  ChristMUs  indeed,  rejoice  lo  see  tbe  corUiiiM 
if  tlie  tabernacle  enW^ed,  the  bounds  of  the  Moctoary  ex- 
toaded.  Cfarisi  advanced,  (he  goepel  propagated,  and  soub  saved. 
And  if  ever  the  lore  of  God  did  center  in  jroar  hearts,  if  erer 
the  Benee  of  his  goodnesa  hath  begot  bowels  of  coinpaMioB 
in  jou,  draw  ihem  forth  lowar>l  them  whom  Gk>d  hath  dn^eil 
oat  to  be  the  objects  of  his  grace  and  mercy ;  lay  out  your  ptajrers, 
lend  your  assistance  lo  carry  on  Ihia  day  of  the  Lord  begun 
among  them.  Tbey  are  not  able  (as  Moees  said)  to  bear  the 
burden  of  that  people  alone,  to  make  proriticHi  for  the  children 
whom  God  halh  given  them,  and  therefore  it  is  requisite  the 
BpiriCoal  commanity  sboald  help  to  bear  part  with  them. 

Many  of  the  yonng  one«  are  given  and  ttdien  in  to  be  educated 
and  broQgfat  up  in  schools ;  they  are  naked  and  must  be  clad, 
they  want  all  things  and  must  be  supplied.  The  parents,  also, 
and  many  others,  being  convinced  of  the  evil  of  an  idle  life,  de- 
sire to  be  employed  in  honest  labor  ;  but  tbey  want  instruments 
and  toob  to  set  them  on  work,  and  cast  garments  to  throw  upon 
those  bodie»),  thai  iheir  lotna  may  bless  you  whose  souls  Christ  hath 
clothed.  Some  worthy  persons  have  given  much,  and  if  God 
shall  move  the  heart  of  others  to  oSbr  willingly  toward  the 
building  of  Christ  a  spiritual  temple,  it  will  certainly  renuun 
upon  their  account,  when  the  smallest  rewards  from  God  shall  be 
better  than  the  greatest  layings  out  for  God.  Rut  we  are 
making  a  relation,  not  a  collection.  We  leave  Ihe  whole  to 
your  Christian  consideration,  not  doubling  but  they  who  have 
tasted  of  mercy  from  God  will  be  ready  to  esercise  compassion 
lo  others,  and  commend  you  unto  Him  who  gave  himself  for  us, 
that  be  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify,  as  well  ta 
purchase  unto  himself,  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works. 

SVB.  Snip  SOX, 
Willi AU  Carter, 
Tho,  Goodwin, 
Tho.  Case, 
SiuoK  Ashe. 
Samuel  Boltok. 


Stephen  Marshall, 
J  KB  EM  Y  Whitakek, 
£dm.  Calaut, 
William  Gbehinhill, 
John  Downa.m, 
Fbilii-  Nye, 


^M 


CLEAR    SUNSHINE  OF  THE    GOSPEL 

BREAKING   FORTH  UPON  THE  INDIANS 
IW  NEW  ENGLAND. 


Mrcii  IIoxoRED  AND  Deab  Sir  :  Th&t  glorious  and  sudden 
rising  of  Christ  Jesus  upon  our  poor  Indians,  which  began  a  little 
licfore  you  set  sail  from  Ibese  shores,  halh  not  been  altogether 
deluded  since,  but  mther  broken  out  further  into  more  light  and 
life,  wlieretvith  the  Most  High  halh  visited  them :  anil  because 
Biiine  may  ciiU  in  question  the  truth  of  the  first  relniion,  either 
because  ihey  may  think  it  too  good  news  to  be  true,  or  because 
some  persons,  maligning  the  good  of  the  country,  are  apt,  as  to 
nggravaie  to  ihe  utmost  any  evil  thing  against  it,  so  10  vilify  and 
extenuate  any  good  thing  in  it ;  and  because  yourself  desired  to 
htiir  how  far  since  God  hath  carried  on  that  work,  which  your 
own  eyta  saw  here  begun.  1  shall  therefore,  as  fiuthfuUy  and  as 
briefly  as  I  can,  give  you  r  true  relation  of  the  progress  of  it, 
which  I  hope  may  l>e  a  sufficient  conlimiation  of  what  halh  been 
published  to  the  world  before,  having  tliis  as  the  chief  end  in  my 
Own  eye,  that  the  precious  s^nts  and  people  of  God  in  England, 
believing  what  bath  been  and  may  be  reported  to  them  uf  these 
things,  may  help  forward  this  work  logclhor  with  us  by  their 
prayers  and  praises,  as  we  desire  to  do  the  like  for  the  work  of 
Clirisl  begun  among  them  there.  I  dare  not  epeak  too  much, 
nor  what  I  think  about  their  conversion.  I  have  seen  so  much 
t'liUcness  in  that  point  among  many  English,  that  I  am  slow  to 
bvlieve  herein  too  hastily  concerning  these  poor  nuked  men  ;  only 
this  is  erident  to  all  honest  hearts  that  dwell  near  them,  and  have 
obi^orved  them,  tlial  the  work  of  the  Lord  upon  ihcm  (whatever 
it  be)  is  both  unexpected  and  wonderful  in  so  short  a  time.  I 
shall  set  down  things  as  they  are.  and  then  yourself  and  others, 
to  whom  these  may  come,  may  judge  as  you  please  of  them. 
VOL.  lu.  i'J  467 


L 


45S  THE    CLEAR    SUNSUIKR    OF    THE    GC 

Soon  at\er  jour  depHrtun;  tience,  the  awakening  of  these 
Indiana  in  oorton-n  raised  a  greal  noise  among  all  the  rest  round 
about  ut>,  Cfpeciiill}'  about  Concord  side,  where  the  sachem, — 
inferior  prince, —  (as  I  remember,)  and  one  or  two  more  of  bs 
men,  hearing  of  ihe^c  things  and  of  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
und  hgw  it  wrought  Among  them  here,  came  therefore  liithcr  to  | 
^oonfinctum,  (an  Indian  town  so  called,)  to  the  ladiaD  lecture; 
and  what  the  Lord  si>akc  to  his  heart  we  know  not.  onlj  it  secnu  I 
he  was  so  far  affected  as  that  he  deaired  lo  become  more  lite  to 
ihe  English,  and  to  cast  off  those  Indian  wild  and  sinful  courses  | 
they  formerly  lived  in ;  but  when  divers  of  his  men  perceived 
their  sachem's  mind,  ihej  aecretly  opposed  him  herein ;  which 
opposition  being  known,  he  therefore  called  together  his  chief 
men  about  him,  and  made  a  speech  to  this  effect  unto  (hem,  tii.; 
"  That  thej  had  no  reason  at  all  to  oppose  (hose  courses  the 
Englii^h  were  now  taking  for  their  good,  for  (saiih  he)  &I1  the 
time  you  have  lived  after  Ihe  Indian  fashion  under  the  power  and 
protection  of  higher  Indian  sachems,  what  did  they  care  for  you  ? 
They  only  sought  their  own  ends  out  of  you,  and  therefore  wonld 
exact  upon  you,  and  take  nway  your  skins,  and  your  kettles,  and 
your  wampum  from  you  at  their  own  pleasure,  and  this  was  ail 
that  they  regarded ;  but  you  may  evidently  see  that  the  English 
mind  no  such  things,  care  for  none  of  your  goods,  hut  only  seek 
your  good  and  welfare,  and,  instead  of  taking  away,  are  ready  to 
give  to  you  ; "  with  many  other  things  I  now  forget,  wbick  were 
related  by  wi  eminent  man  of  that  low-n  to  me.  What  the  effect 
of  this  speech  was  wo  can  tell  no  otherwise  than  as  the  effects 
showed  it :  the  first  thing  was,  the  making  of  certain  laws  for 
their  more  religious  and  civil  government  and  behavior ;  (o  the 
making  of  which  they  craved  the  assistance  of  one  of  the  chief 
Indians  in  Noonsnclum.  a  very  active  Indian,  to  bring  in  others 
to  the  knowledge  of  God ;  desiring  withal  an  able,  faithful  man 
in  Concord  to  record  and  keep  in  writing  what  they  had  gjenernlly 
Bgn]cd  ujwii.  Another  effect  was,  their  desire  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
(teacher  of  the  church  of  Bosbury,  that  preachelh  to  the  Indians 
in  their  own  language)  coming  up  to  them  to  preadi,  u  he 
could  And  time  among  them ;  and  Ihe  last  effect  was,  their  ile- 
■in;  of  baving  u  town  given  them  within  the  bounds  of  Concord, 
r  unto  thu  Knglisfi.  This  latter,  when  il  was  propounded  by 
the  »Bcheni  of  tlie  phic,  lie  was  demanded  why  be  desired  a  town 
to  near  wlieiiii*  llicrc  was  more  room  for  them  up  in  the  country. 
To  wWfli  the  «niliem  ii-plicd,  that  he  therefore  desired  it  because 
h«  KnPW  llml  if  ih"-  Iinli«"«  dwelt  far  from  the  English,  that  they 
*TOuH  iwt  to  mncll  mw  Ui  Jtmy,  nor  would  they  be  so  ready  to 


^^ 


BREAKmO    FORTH   UPON   THE   DtDUKB. 

hear  the  word  of  God,  but  ihoy  would  be  all  one  Indinns  still ; 
but  dwelling  nonr  ihe  Etiglisli,  he  hoped  it  might  be  otherwise 
with  ihem  ibcn.  The  town,  therefore,  was  panted  ibera ;  but  it 
reems  that  the  opposition  made  by  £ome  of  themselves,  more  ma- 
lignitnlly  set  against  these  courses,  hnth  kept  ihem  from  any 
present  settling  down :  nnd  f>urcly  this  opposition  is  a  special 
fin<;er  of  Satan  resisting  these  budding  bogiunings;  for  what  more 
hopeful  way  of  doing  good  than  by  cohabitation  in  such  towns,  near 
unto  good  examples,  and  such  as  may  be  continually  whetting 
upon  them,  and  dropping  into  ihem  of  the  things  of  Ood  ?  What 
greater  means  at  least  to  civilize  ibcra?  as  is  evident  in  tho 
Cuseo  and  Mexico  Indians,  more  civil  than  any  else  in  thie  vast 
continent,  that  we  know  of,  who  were  reduced  by  the  politic  prin- 
ciples of  the  two  great  conquering  princes  of  those  countries  after 
their  long  and  tedious  wars,  from  tliese  wild  and  wandering 
oourses  of  life,  unto  a  settling  into  particular  towns  and  cities. 
But  I  forbear,  only  to  confirm  the  truth  of  these  things.  I  have 
sent  you  the  orders  ^reed  on  at  Concord  by  the  Indians  under 
the  hand  of  two  faithful  witnesses,  who  could  testify  more,  if  neeil 
were,  of  these  matters.  I  have  sent  you  tbcir  own  copy  and 
ibeir  own  bands  lo  it,  which  I  have  here,  inserted. 

Coiirtuttcnu  and  Ordrrt  miidt  and  rufrerd  upim  bg  Divtra  Saehftitt 
and  ol/irr  Priuriv<d  Mm  amongut  the  mdian*  at  Conrord,  in 
the  End  of  the  ElrveiiUi  Moath,  An.  1G46. 

1.  That  every  one  that  shall  abuse  themselves  with  wine  or 
strong  lii^ttors  shall  pay  for  every  time  so  abusing  themselves  30ii. 

'2.  That  there  shall  be  no  more  powwowing  amongst  the  Indians. 
And  if  any  shall  hereafter  powwow,  (powwows  are  witdies  or 
son-erers,  tliat  cure  by  help  of  the  devil,)  both  he  that  «hall 
powwow  and  he  that  shall  procure  him  to  powwow  shall  pay  20a. 

3.  They  do  desire  that  ibey  may  be  stirred  up  lo  seek  after 

g™i. 

4.  Ttiey  desire  they  may  understand  the  wiles  of  Satan,  ami 
grow  out  of  love  with  his  suggpslions  and  temptations. 

.'i.  That  they  may  fall  ui>on  some  better  course  to  improve  their 
time  than  formerly. 

C.  That  they  may  be  brought  in  the  sight  of  the  sin  of  lying, 
ami  whosoevinr  shall  be  found  faulty  therein  shall  [lay  for  the  first 
(iffence  as.,  tht?  second  lUs.,  the  third  20s. 

7.  Whosoever  shall  steal  any  thing  from  another  shall  restora 
foarfold. 


( 


I 


I 

I 

I 


460  TOE  CLEAR   SrXSniNE   OP  THE   GOSPEI, 

8.  Tbey  desire  that  no  Indian  hereafler  shall  have  any  more 
but  one  wife, 

9.  They  desire  to  prevent  falling  out  of  Indians  one  with  anotb' 
er,  and  thut  ihey  may  live  quietly  one  by  another. 

10.  That  they  maylubor  ailer  humility,  and  not  be  proud. 

11.  That  when  Indians  do  wrong  one  to  another,  they  may  be 
liable  to  censure  by  6ne  or  the  like,  n$  the  English  ore. 

12.  Thai  ihey  pay  their  debts  lo  the  English. 

13.  That  they  do  observe  the  Lord's  day,  and  nbosoerer  shall 
profane  it  shall  pay  20s. 

1 4.  Thai  there  shall  not  be  allowance  to  pick  lice,  aa  formerly, 
and  eat  them,  and  whosoever  shall  oSend  in  this  caee  shall  pay 
for  every  louse  a  penny. 

15.  They  will  wear  their  hair  comely,  as  the  English  do,  and 
vbusoevor  shall  ofieml  herein  shall  pay  &s. 

16.  They  intend  to  reform  themselves  in  their  former  greas- 
ing themselves,  under  the  pejialty  of  5s.  for  every  default. 

17.  They  do  also  resolve  to  set  up  prayer  in  Iheir  wigwanu, 
(a  wigwam  is  such  a  dwelling  house  as  they  live  in,)  and  lo  seek 
to  God  Itolh  before  and  after  mcaL 

18.  If  any  commit  the  ain  of  fornication,  being  single  persons, 
the  man  shall  pay  20s.  and  the  woman  10s. 

19.  if  any  man  lie  with  a  beast,  he  shall  die. 

30.  Whosoever  shall  play  at  their  former  gomes  shall  pay  lOs. 

31.  Whosoever  shall  commit  adultery  shall  be  put  la  death. 

22.  Wilful  murder  shall  he  punished  with  death. 

23.  They  shall  not  disguise  themselves  in  their  moiirmngs,  as 
fermerly,  nor  shall  they  keep  a  great  noise  by  howling. 

24.  The  old  ceremony  of  the  maid  walking  alone  and  living 
Apart  so  many  days,  20s. 

25.  No  Indian  shall  lake  an  Englishman's  canoe,  (a  canoe  ia  a 
small  boat,)  without  leave,  under  ihe  penalty  of  6s. 

2G.  Mo  Indian  shall  come  into  any  Englishman's  hoose  ex- 
cept he  first  knock,  and  this  they  expect  from  the  English. 

27.  Whosoever  beats  his  wife  shall  pay  20s. 

28.  If  any  Indian  shall  fall  out  with  and  beal  another  Indian 
be  shall  pay  20s. 

29.  They  desire  they  may  be  a  town,  and  cither  to  dwell  on 
this  side  Ihe  Bear  Swamp,  or  at  the  east  side  of  Mr.  Plinfa 
pond. 

Immediatelyafierllicsethingswercagreedupon,  mostof  the  In- 
dians of  these  parts  sel  upprayermoniingandeveningiu  their  fam- 
ilies, and  before  and  after  meal.  They  also  generally  cut  their  Imr, 
and  were  more  civil  in  their  carriage  to  the  English  than  formerly. 


f 


BItBAKING 


And  they  do  inaniri:!it  a  great  willingness  lo  conromi  themselves 
to  the  civil  fiisliiona  of  iLt  English.  The  Lord's  day  tbey  keep 
a  day  of  rest,  and  mininler  wLat  edilicaCioti  ihey  c»n  to  oiio 
another.  These  former  orders  were  put  inio  this  form  by  Cap- 
lain  Simon  Willnrd,  of  Concord,  whom  the  Indians,  with  unnitl- 
mous  consent,  entreated  to  be  tbeir  recorder,  being  very  solidlous 
that  what  they  did  agree  upon  nugbt  be  faithfully  preservi'd 
without  alteration. 

Simon  WrLLAUU. 
■  TaouAS  Flint. 

These  things  thus  wrought  in  a  short  time  about  Concord  ;idu 
I  look  upon  us  fruits  of  the  ministry  of  the  word  ;  for  Hlihougti 
tlieir  high  esteem  bred  lately  in  ilieni.  especially  llie  chief  and 
best  of  tlie  English,  together  with  that  mean  esteem  many  of 
thera  have  of  themselves,  and  therefore  will  call  themselves  *onie- 
times  poor  creatures,  when  they  see  and  hear  of  their  great  <lin- 
tiiiice  from  others  of  the  Englisii  —  I  say,  although  these  thing:* 
may  lie  some  cauiie.i  of  making  these  orders  and  walking  in  tbeno 
courses,  yet  the  chief  cause  seems  to  be  the  power  of  the  word, 
which  liaih  heeo  the  chief  cause  of  these  orders ;  and  thereforu  it 
is  that  until  now  of  late  they  uever  so  muvh  as  thought  of  any 
of  these  things. 

I  am  not  ublc  to  acquaint  you  very  much  from  my  own  eye 
and  car  wilni^ss  of  things,  for  you  know  the  ncnr  rchuion  bctwi-rn 
me  and  the  Rreside  usually  all  winter  lime  i  only  I  shall  impart 
two  or  throe  things  more  of  what  I  have  heard  and  seen,  and 
the  rest  I  shall  relate  to  you  as  I  have  received  from  faithful 
witnesses,  who  testify  nothing  to  me  by  tlieir  writings  but  what 
is  seen  in  the  open  .sun,  and  dune  in  the  view  of  all  the  world, 
and  generally  known  to  be  true  of  people  abiding  in  thcbe  parts 

As  soon  as  ever  the  fierceness  of  the  winter  was  post,  March 
3,  1047,  I  went  out  to  Noonanelum  to  the  Indian  lecture,  where 
Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Allen,  of  Dedbnm,  Mr.  Dunslcr,  besides  RUiny 
other  Christians  were  present ;  on  which  day,  iicnwiving  divers 
of  the  Indian  women  well  affected,  and  considering  tliat  iheir 
souU  might  stand  in  need  of  answer  to  their  scruples  its  well  as 
the  men's,  and  yet  bocnusa  wo  knew  how  unfit  It  was  for  women 
BO  much  us  to  ask  qucMions  publicly  immediately  by  themselves, 
wu  did  therefore  desire  ihem  to  projiound  any  questions  they 
would  b«  resolved  about,  by  first  acquniTiting  cither  their  hus- 
bands or  the  ioterpreier  privately  therewith :  wheruu|ion  we  heard 
Iwo  questions  thus  orderly  pn>i)Ounded,  which  because  (hoy  are 


«iiHi^*a«««r«c  fcjrf A  imi  bawe  tkcj  bm^  be  otber- 

'tW  fc«  f«»  «■(  faapsMifad  ly  ifce  wife  of  one  Wam- 
^Mi,«wiJiJBMiiilMfca.»ifc,**WAeT(»J«bg)ao  I  praj 
«i^  HV  ImI^  f""**>  if  I  if»ii  MitUag  m  be  dotb,  j«t  if  I 
n*  bIm  W  aMk.  «■!  ^7  kmt  (gn  vilk  il ;  **  ((or  the  Indians 
*3I  HM^  (iHS  pnj  vid  ibar  vhok  and  with  tbeir  eliililfai 
ifai^  i^HfiHe*  ■  ihc  ieU*:)  ike  tkenfaK.  foviag  lest  pnjer 
A«Ji—lrW—fximwi«rtTirfthciy6,M>piiiwlif  iimighmot 
brilMM'iBwwdMtiMaftichem.iritett«dar«h*t  beswd. 

TV;  Hinmt  |BFitM  w  pwp  dm  JbJ  fcy  the  wife  of  owe  Ttuher- 

Ah,  via.:  *rtiltir  a  harind  iliiiiU  4o  weD  lo  p««j  with  fak 
wife,  lad  7*1  wMMBe  ■  Ui  paitinM.  ■»d  be  aagrj  with  his 
wife.'  Bm  the  maiatj  »mi  •mitiom  at  the  wooan  directed 
her  to  do  dove  tkn^  ■  oac,  fer  thn  the  fpake  (o  08,  vii. : 
**  Bcfetw  mj  hosbeod  did  ft*j,  he  ww»  imacb  u^ry  and  frowud ; 
hot  once  he  halh  begm  to  fnj,  be  wss  not  Mtgry  eo  much, 
bwl  little  tmgrji"  wfaetcin, fint, «be  g»Tegui  bonorvble  lesliinMiy 
of  her  haibwnd,  snd  conneadcd  him  fw  the  abUeiDenI  of  hb 
f«eM».  Seevdlj.  dte  gave  impticttlr  a  secret  repruof  (or  what 
was  P**''  ""^  '*'*'  wmewlul  ai  present  tbai  was  amiiiai.  And 
llurdljr,  it  wu  inlaid«]  br  ber  u  a  question  whether  her  bus- 
btad  tbovld  praj  to  God.  and  yet  ecntinDe  in  some  anniljr  pv 
MOM  I  bat  £be  wi*elj  worded  that,  leat  it  migbt  reflect  too  inach 
Dpoa  him,  akboogb  we  desired  ber  to  express  if  lliat  was  not 
ber  meaning. 

At  ibis  time  (beside  these  questions)  there  were  sundry  others 
propounded  of  very  good  uive,  in  all  wbioh  we  saw  the  Lord 
JesiM  leading  ihem  lo  make  uarrow  inquiries  into  ihu  things  of 
God,  Ibat  so  ihey  might  see  the  rcaliiv  of  them.  I  have  beard 
faw  Christians,  when  ihey  begin  to  lo(J(  luward  God,  make  more 
•earcbing  questiotii  that  they  might  see  things  realljr,  and  not 
odIj*  have  a  notion  of  them.  I  forbear  lo  mention  aiiy  of  theoi, 
bocHU»e  I  forget  ihe  chief  of  tticm  ;  only  this  w;  took  nolire  of 
At  this  duy'e  meeting,  that  there  was  an  agt^  Indian  who  pro- 
posed his  complaint  in  propounding  hia  question  concerning  an 
unruly,  disobedient  sun  ;  anil  "  what  one  dbould  do  with  him  in 
case  of  obsliuacy  and  disohedience,  and  that  will  not  hear  God'a 
word,  though  hia  fulher  command  him,  nor  will  not  forsake  hU 
drunkenne«s,  though  his  father  forbid  biro ;"  unto  which  there  were 
many  answers  to  set  forth  the  sin  of  disobedience  lo  parents, 
,  which  were  the  more  quickened  and  sboi'pened  because  we  knew 


DSKAKtKO   FORTH   VPOS  THE 


1G3 


Ibat  Xh'm  rebellious  8on,  whom  tlie  old  mnn  mcani,  was  by  Goil'a 
prorideace  present  «l  this  lecture.  Mr.  WiUon  was  much  en- 
lurgcd,  and  epuke  so  IcTribly,  yet  so  graciously,  as  migLt  have 
uRii^uIed  a  heart  not  quite  ehut  up.  which  thi«  young  desperado 
bearing,  (who  well  understood  the  English  tongue,)  instead  of 
humbling  hiniseir  before  the  Lord'8  word,  which  touched  big  con- 
science anil  condition  so  near,  he  was  filled  with  &  spirit  of 
Sntau,  and  as  soon  as  ever  Mr.  Wilson's  speech  was  ended,  he 
brake  out  into  a  loud,  eontemptuoua  expression.  So  sailh  he; 
which  we  passed  by  without  speaking  again,  leaving  the  word 
with  him,  which  we  knew  would  one  day  take  its  effect  one  way 
or  other  U|)on  hitn. 

The  luller  end  of  lhi«  year,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Ellol,  and  my< 
self  were  eent  for,  by  those  in  Yarmoutli,  to  inoet  with  some  other 
eldet^  of  Plymouth  pateni,  to  hear  and  heal  (if  it  were  the  will 
of  Christ)  the  diiference  and  sad  breaches  which  liavu  been  loo 
lung  lime  among  them,  wherein  the  Lord  wuii  very  merciful  to 
us  and  Ihcm  in  binding  tliem  up  beyond  our  ihoughtii  in  n  very 
abort  time:,  iu  giving  nut  only  tlmt  bruUed  churcli,  but  the  whole 
town  also,  a  hopeful  beginning  of  selllud  {>etic«  and  future  ((uiei- 
ness ;  but  Mr.  Eliot,  us  he  lakes  all  other  advantages  uf  lime, 
so  lie  look  this,  of  speaking  wilh  and  preaching  to  the  poor 
Indians  in  these  remote  places  about  Cape  Cod,  in  which  jour- 
ney i  »hall  acquaint  you  with  what  all  of  u»  observed. 

We  KrsI  fuund  these  Intliwis  (not  very  far  from  ours)  to  na- 
derxtand  (but  with  much  diUicully)  tlic  usual  language  of  ihoM 
in  our  parts,  partly  in  regard  of  the  different  tlialect,  which  gen- 
ernily  varies  in  forty  or  sixty  inile^  and  partly  and  especially  in 
rcgurd  of  their  not  being  accu«tamc<1  unto  sacred  language  about 
the  holy  things  of  Goil,  wherein  Mr.  Eliot  exceU  any  other  of 
the  English,  tlmt  tii  the  Imlinn  bvnguuge  about  common  matters 
excel  him.  I  »ay  therefore,  although  they  did  with  much  ditB- 
culiy  undersbitid  him,  ycl  thej  did  un<Iorsiaiid  him,  although 
by  many  circumtocuiions  and  variations  of  speech,  and  the  help 
of  one  or  two  interpreters  which  were  there  present. 

•Secondly.  We  observed  much  opposition  against  him,  and  hear- 
ing of  him  at  the  day  8p)>ointcd,  e»pcnially  by  one  of  tho  chicfest 
saclicras  in  those  part«,  a  man  ol'  a  tierce,  strong,  mid  spurious 
spirit,  whom  the  English,  thiu'cfore,  call  by  tlie  name  Jehu ;  whoi, 
although  before  the  day  appointed  fur  pruaching,  pnimiwMl  very 
fair  tliat  he  would  come  and  bring  his  men  witli  him  i  yet  that 
very  moruing,  wheti  tlioy  were  to  be  present,  he  sends  out  almost 
all  his  men  to  sea, prutendmg  fishing;  and  therefore,  aliliough  at 
he  came  Into  himself  to  the  sermon,  yet  his  men  were  a^ent, 


I 

I 


I 

I 


464  TIIR   CLEAR   SL7ISHIME   OF  THE    GOSPEL 

and  vrhun  he  came  himself,  would  not  seem  to  undersland 
thing,  although  he  did  undcraland,  as  some  of  llie  Indians  them- 
seJves  then  lold  us,  when  Mr.  Eliot  by  himself  and  by  ihem  io- 
qnired  of  him  if  he  understood  what  was  spoken  ;  yet  be  coolia- 
ued  htnring  what  was  said  with  u  dogged  look  and  a  discontented 
c»untenance. 

Thirdly.  Notwithstanding  this  opposition,  we  found  another 
sachem  then  present  willing  to  leai^.  and  divers  of  his  men 
attentive  and  knowing  what  was  said:  and  in  the  time  which 
b  usually  set  apnrt  for  propounding  questions,  an  aged  Indian 
told  us  openly  "  Uiul  these  very  thinfp  which  Kf r.  Eliot  had 
taught  thera  as  the  uomoiandments  of  God,  and  concerning  God, 
and  the  making  of  the  world  by  one  God,  that  they  had  heard 
aome  old  men,  who  were  now  dead,  to  say  the  same  tilings  ;  since 
whose  death  there  hath  been  no  remembrance  or  knowledge  of 
them  among  the  Indians,  until  now  they  hear  of  ihtsm  agwn." 
Which  when  I  heard  solemnly  spoken,  I  could  not  tell  how  those 
old  Indians  should  attain  to  such  knowledge,  unless  perhaps  by 
means  of  the  French  preacher,  cast  upon  those  coasts  many  years 
since,  by  whose  rainisiry  iliey  might  possibly  reap  and  retain 
8ome  knowledge  of  those  things;  this  also  I  hear  by  a  godly  and 
able  Christian  who  hath  much  converse  with  ihem :  that  many 
of  them  have  this  apprehension  now  stirring  among  them,  vii^ 
"  that  their  forefathers  did  know  God,  but  that,  af^r  tiiU,  they 
fell,  into  a  great  sleep,  and  when  they  did  awaken  ibey  quite 
forgot  him,"  (for  under  such  metaphorical  language  they  usually 
express  what  eminent  things  they  mean,)  so  that  it  may  seem 
to  be  the  day  of  the  Lord's  gracious  visitation  of  these  poor 
natives,  which  is  just  as  it  is  with  all  other  people,  when  they 
are  most  low,  the  wheel  then  turns,  and  tlie  Lord  remembers  to 
have  raorcy. 

Fourthly.  A  fourth  and  last  observation  we  took  was  the  story 
of  an  Indian  in  those  parts,  telling  a»  of  his  dream  many  year* 
since,  which  he  told  us  of  openly  before  many  witnesses  when  we 
■at  at  meat.  The  dream  is  this :  he  said,  "  that  about  two 
years  before  the  English  came  over  into  those  parts,  there  was  a 
great  mortality  among  the  Indians,  and  one  night  he  could  not 
sleep  above  half  the  night,  after  which  he  fell  into  a  dr«am.  in 
which  he  did  think  he  saw  a  great  many  men  come  to  those  parts 
in  clothe,  just  as  the  English  now  are  appareled,  and  among 
Ihem  arose  up  a  man  all  in  black,  with  a  thing  in  his  hand  which 
he  now  sees  was  all  one  EngUak  man's  book  ;  this  hlack  man," 
lood  upon  a  higher  place  than  all  the  rest,  and  on  the 
one  side  of  bim  were  the  English,  on  the  other  a  great  number 


# 


BREAKIKn    FOBTH   UPON   THE   INDUKS.  465 

uF  IniliNn^.  Thia  mnn  tolJ  nil  the  IndiAns  that  God  was  moot- 
tfuaiiliim  or  angry  wilU  tli(--ni.  itiid  lliitl  la-  nould  kill  tlicm  fur 
lliuir  sins;  wbcMupon,  he  s&iA,  himiolf  Blood  up  and  desired  to 
know  of -the  black  man  what  God  would  do  witb  him  and  lua 
sqUHW  and  pappoose;! ;  but  the  blaok  man  would  not  answer  him  a 
Aral  time,  nor  jet  a  second  time,  until  be  desired  the  third  time ; 
and  llien  he  Ktniled  upon  him,  and  loM  him  that  he  and  hie  pa]>- 
poosi-s  sliouid  he  safe,  and  llial  God  would  ^ve  unto  llicro  milch- 
en,  (i.  e^  victuals,)  and  other  good  ihlDga  ;  and  so  he  awakcni--d." 
What  similitude  ihif  dr«am  hath  with  the  truth  accomplished  yoa 
may  easily  eee.  1  attribute  little  to  dreams ;  jet  God  maj  speak  to 
such  bj  them  rather  than  to  those  who  have  a  more  sure  word  to 
direct  and  warn  them.  Vet  this  dream  made  us  think,  surely  tlua 
Indian  will  regard  the  black  man  now  come  among  them  rather 
than  any  others  of  llicu-  But  whether  Saian,  or  fear  and  guitl, 
or  word  prevailed,  we  can  not  saj ;  but  this  is  certain,  that  he 
withdrew  from  the  sermon,  and  tUtbough  he  came  at  the  latter 
end  of  it,  as  hoping;  it  had  been  done,  yet  wc  conld  not  persuade 
bim  then  to  stay  and  hear,  but  away  he  flung,  and  wc  saw  him 
no  more  till  next  day. 

From  this  3d  of  March  until  the  latter  end  of  tliia  summer 
I  could  not  be  present  at  the  Indian  lectures ;  but  when  I  came 
this  last  time,  I  marveled  to  see  so  many  Indian  mon,  woiucii, 
and  children  in  English  apparel,  thej  being  at  Noonanelum  gen- 
erully  clad,  especially  on  lecture  days ;  which  thej  have  got 
portly  by  gill  I'rum  the  English,  and  partly  by  their  own  labors, 
by  wliicb  some  of  them  have  very  handsomely  appareled  them- 
selves,  and  you  would  scarce  know  them  from  English  people. 
There  is  one  thing  more  which  I  would  acquaint  jou  with,  which 
liitppenod  thii  summer,  vit.,  June  9.  The  Hrst  day  of  the  synod's 
meeting  at  Cambridge,  wliere  the  forenoon  was  spent  in  hearing  a 
sermon  preached  by  one  of  the  elders  us  a  preparative  to  the  work 
of  the  «yood,  the  afiornoon  was  spent  in  hearing  an  Indian  lecture 
where  there  was  a  great  confluence  of  Indians  from  all  parts  to 
huir  Mr.  Eliot,  which  we  conceived  not  unseasonable  al  such  a 
time,  partly  that  the  reports  of  God's  work  begun  among  them 
might  be  seen  and  believed  of  the  chiefs  who  were  then  sent  and 
met  from  all  the  churches  of  Christ  to  the  country,  who  could 
hardly  believe  the  reports  Uicj  had  received  concerning  these 
new  stirs  among  the  Indians,  and  partly  hereby  to  raise  up  a 
greater  spirit  of  prayer  for  the  currying  on  of  the  work  begun 
U|ion  the  Indians,  among  all  the  cliurrhes  atid  servants  of  llie  Lord 
Jesus.  The  »crmon  was  spent  in  showing  them  their  miserable 
coaditicui  without  Cbriat,  otit  of  Epb.  ii.  1 ;  that  they  were  dead 


I 


I 


hi  trespasses  and  eins;  iiiiii  in  pointing  unto  lliem  the  Lord 
Je^ius  vho  only  rouM  quicken  them. 

When  the  sermon  was  done,  there  wns  n  convenient  space  of 
time  B|>ent  in  hearing  those  questions  wLic-h  llkc  Indians  puliticlf 
pro|iouniled,  and  in  giving  Answers  in  thnii.  One  question  was, 
wliRt  countryman  Christ  wrs,  and  where  he  was  bom  ;  another 
was,  how  far  off  ihnt  pluce  wns  from  us  here;  another  was, 
where  Christ  now  was  ;  and  another,  how  thej'  might  lay  hold 
OR  him,  and  where,  being  now  ab;jeiit  froni  them ;  witli  some 
other  to  this  purpose,  which  received  foil  answers  from  seveml 
hands.  But  that  which  I  note  is  this :  that  tltetr  gracious  aiieo- 
tion  10  the  word,  ibe  afieellons  and  mournings  of  some  of  then 
nnder  it,  their  sober  propounding  of  divers  spiriinal  questions, 
their  aptness  to  understand  and  belieTe  what  was  replied  to  ihem, 
the  readiness  of  divers  poor  nnked  children  to  answer  openly 
the  chief  questions  in  cnleehisnl  whidi  were  formeriy  taught 
them,  and  snch  like  nppenrnnces  of  a  great  change  upon  them, 
did  mnrvelously  aSVct  all  the  wise  and  godly  ministers,  magis- 
trates, and  pieoplu,  and  did  raise  their  hearts  up  to  great  thtuik- 
fulness  to  God  ;  very  many  deeply  and  abundantly  mourning  fur 
Joy  to  see  Rueh  a  blessed  day,  ami  tttc  Lord  Jesus  so  much 
known  and  spoken  of  among  such  as  never  heard  of  him  ttefore ; 
■0  that  if  any  in  England  duubi  of  the  truth  of  what  was  ftMmerly 
writ,  or  if  any  malignant  eye  shall  question  and  vilify  this  work, 
Ihey  will  now  speak  loo  late;  for  what  was  here  done  at  Cam- 
bridge was  not  set  under  a  bushel,  but  in  the  open  sun,  that  what 
Thomas  would  not  l>elieve  by  the  reports  of  others,  he  might  be 
Ibrced  to  believe  by  seeing  with  bis  own  eyes,  and  feeling  Cbrbl 
Jesus  thus  risen  among  them  with  bis  own  hands. 

I  have  done  with  what  I  have  observed  myself.  I  sltnll  there- 
fore proceed  to  give'^ou  a  true  relation  of  what  I  have  beard 
from  othei-s,  and  many  faithful  witnesses  have  seen.  And  first 
I  shall  speuk  a  little  more  of  the  old  man  who  is  mentioned  in 
the  story  now  in  print  This  old  man  hath  much  Mflection  stirred 
np  by  the  word  ;  and  coming  to  Mr,  Eliot's  bouse,  (fur  of  him  I 
hud  this  story,)  Mr.  Eliot  told  him  that  because  he  brought  his 
wife  and  all  his  children  constantly  to  the  lecture,  tbat  he  would 
iherefirre  bestow  some  clothes  upon  him,  (it  being  now  winter, 
and  the  old  man  naked ;)  which  prombe  be  not  certainly  under- 
standing the  meaning  of,  a.sked.  therefore,  of  another  Indian 
(who  is  Mr.  Eliot's  servant,  and  very  hopeful)  what  it  vm  ihftt 
Hr.  Eliot  promised  him.  He  told  hira  that  he  said  he  would 
give  him  some  ulollies,  which  when  he  understood  he  alfe<-tion- 
>t«ly  brake  out  into  these  expressions :  "  God,  I  see,  is  merciful ; " 


a  bU-BS^,  because  a  plain-hearled,  alTectionale  speech,  and  worthy 
EijglUhnien'A  ihou^kts  when  [hey  put  od  lli«ir  clothes ;  to  think 
that  a  poor  blinil  Indian,  that  scari-e  ever  heard  of  God  before, 
that  be  should  $ee  not  only  God  in  his  clothes,  but  mercy  also  in 
a  promiM  of  a  cast-off,  worn  suit  of  clothes  which  were  then 
given  biu, and  which  he  now  daily  wears.     But  to  proceed:  — 

This  same  old  man,  (as  I  think  a  liltle  before  he  had  these 
clothes,)  nftee  an  Indian  lecture,  when  they  usually  come  to  pro- 
pound questions,  instead  of  asking  a  quceiion,  began  to  speak  to 
the  rest  of  the  Indians,  and  broke  out  into  many  exprcseions  of 
wondering  at  God'H  goodness  unto  Ihem,  that  the  Lord  should  at 
last  look  upon  (hem,  and  send  his  ward  as  a  light  unto  them  that 
liad  been  in  darkness  and  such  gross  ignorance  to  long :  "  Me 
wonder  (saith  he)  at  God  that  he  should  thus  deal  with  us," 
This  speech,  expressed  in  many  words  in  the  Indian  language, 
and  with  strong  actings  with  bis  eyes  aud  liands,  being  inter- 
(iruted  al\erward8  to  the  English,  did  much  also  affect  all  of  them 
(hat  were  pre-seat  at  this  lecture  also. 

There  were  this  winter  many  other  questions  propounded, 
which  were  written  down  by  Mr.  Edward  Jackson,  one  of  oar 
lown  constantly  present  at  liese  lectures  to  lake  notes  both  of 
the  questions  made  by  the  Indiana  and  returned  by  Mr.  Eliot  to 
(hem  :  this  man  having  sent  me  in  his  notes,  I  shall  send  you  a 
tasle  of  some  of  them. 

1.  Wliy  some  men  were  so  bad  that  they  beat  those  men  that 
would  teach  them  good  things. 

i.  Whether  the  devil  or  man  were  made  6rsL 

S.  Whether,  if  a  father  prays  to  God  to  teach  his  sons  to 
know  him,  and  he  doth  lenfh  them  himself,  and  they  will  not 
learn  to  know  Gdl,  what  slioutd  such  fathers  do  ?  (This  was  pro- 
[luundcd  by  an  old  man  thai  had  rude  children.) 

i.  A  squaw  (an  Indian  woman)  propoundetl  this  question : 
whi'iher  she  might  not  go  and  pray  in  some  private  place  in 
llic  woods  when  Iter  husband  whs  not  at  borne ;  because  she 
was  ashamed  to  pray  in  the  wigwnm  before  company. 

3.  [low  may  one  know  wicked  men,  who  are  good  and  who 

C.  To  what  nation  Jesus  Clirist  came  lirst  unto,  and  when. 

7.  If  a  man  f-hould  be  enclosed  in  irou  a  foot  thick,  and  thrown 
into  the  Gre,  what  would  become  of  his  soul ;  whether  could  the 
aoul  couie  forth  thence  or  not- 

8.  Why  did  not  God  give  all  men  good  hearts,  that  they  might 
be  good? 

9.  If  one  should  be  taken  among  strange  Indians  Uiat  know 


Mt  Ooi,  «n4  tkvjr  wmU  wake  Um  to  fi)tfat  a^iiwt  oone  ilri 
W  ibmU  BM.  nd  W  nAim,  «id  te  Ui  nfiKal  tber&ilW^ 
what  wodU  bwiMM  of  hi*  wol  B  ncA  ft  twe  ?  Tina  «m  jn- 
po«n«Dd  bjr  *  moat  fcOev,  (ilwj  bsU  Aat  all  their  tfiK  al 
ndkyil  men  hare  RwanI  after  deaib,)  wW  «w  afleel«4. 

10.  How  loBK  it  b  befive  DMa  befiere  tbM  haw  dwwirirf 
0«4  nMda  kimvn  to  ifaeiB. 

11.  How  tiMjr  ibooM  know  wbcn  Uirir  fnlh  M  gtn^  and  dMir 

11  WhjrdM  not  God  kill  ihe  dcrU,  that  bmAc  alt  men  foW, 
Gol  harii«  aU  power  ? 

18.  If  wa  be  nade  weak  br  ^in  in  onr  hearts,  bow  can  «e 
eone  bdbre  God  to  tanctirj  a  Sabbath  7 

Then  were  buui;^  qamtions  nf  this  kind,  as  alao  nanj  pUo- 
mphlcal  about  the  inn,  rooan,  »tars,  earth,  and  aeas,  tbnader. 
lightning,  earthquakes,  clc^  whkh  I  rort>ear  to  make  mcBliaa  e(, 
leM  I  moald  dog  jour  time  with  reading,  logether  with  the 
vartona  aiuwcm  to  ihpm.  Bj  lhe»e  yon  ma;  perxreive  in  wliu 
•trearn  their  mtnda  are  carried,  and  thai  tbe  Lord  Jesns  haUi  nt 
lA«t  as  ioqairing  peoplo  mnong  these  poor  naked  men,  that  for- 
neriv  never  m  much  aa  thmighl  nf  liim ;  which  qaes^tionings  and 
fnquirlet  arc  accounted  of  lij  some  as  part  of  the  whitenings  of 
tho  barfest  townrd,  [near  at  hand :]  whenever  they  are  foond 
among  any  people,  ihe  good  and  bentSt  that  comes  to  ihem  here- 
by ia  and  will  l>e  exceeding  great. 

-Wo  had  this  jeitr  a  mntignant,  dranken  Indian,  that  (to  east 
eomc  rrpronch,  aa  we  feared,  u[K>n  ihi«  way)  boldly  propounded 
thi»  question  :  "  Mr.  Eliot,  (said  he,)  who  mnde  sack  ?  who  made 
•ack  ?  "  But  he  was  soon  snibbed  by  tlie  other  Indians,  calling  it 
a  pappooee  (thnt  is,  a  childish)  question,  and  seriously  and  gravely 
answered  (not  so  much  to  his  question  as  to  his  ipirit)  by  Mr. 
Kliol,  which  liaih  cooled  his  boldness  erer  aince,  while  others 
have  gone  on  coniforlably  in  this  profitable  and  pleasant  way. 

The  man  who  sent  me  these  and  the  like  questions,  with  tlteir 
scvrral  unswers,  in  writing,  concluded  his  letter  with  this  story, 
which  I  dhnll  hero  insert,  that  you  may  see  the  more  of  God 
among  thcHc  poor  (>eo[dc :  "  Upon  the  25th  of  April  last,  (saith 
he,)  I  had  some  occasion  to  go  to  speak  with  Waban,  (an  Indian 
■aciiem,)  about  sunrising  in  the  morning,  and  staying  some  half 
an  hoar's  time,  lu  I  came  back  by  one  of  the  wigwams,  the 
mnn  of  Mint  wigwnm  was  ut  prayer ;  at  which  I  was  so  much  af- 
tectecl,  that  I  could  not  but  stand  under  a  tree  within  hearing, 
though  I  could  underaland  but  little  of  his  words,  and  consider 
that   Ood  was  fulfilling  hla  word,  »iz. :    the  ends  of  the  earth 


nilKAKIMl    FUUTil    LI-ON   THE    INDIANH.  4E9 

sHftll  remember  tbenise1v«s,  and  tam  upon  him  ;  and  timl  scripliirf, 
*  Tliou  art  llie  God  tbat  heareet  prayer;  unto  thee  shall  all  tlesh 

Also  this  present  September,  I  kave  observed  one  i>f  them  to 
call  hia  children  la  him  from  thuir  gathering  of  corn  in  the  field, 
and  to  crave  a  blessing,  with  much  ofieution,  having  but  a  home- 
ly dinner  lu  enL 

Thene  things,  oiethinks,  should  move  bowels,  aad  awaken  Eng- 
lish hearts  to  be  thankful.  It  >a  no  small  part  of  religion  to 
•wiiken  with  God  in  family  prayer,  (aii  it  seems  these  do  it 
oarly,)  and  to  crave  a  blessing  with  alfeciionnte  hearts  upon  a 
homely  dinner,  perhaps  parc-hed  eorn  or  Indian  stalks.  I  wish 
the  like  henrU  and  ways  were  seen  in  many  English  who  profess 
themselves  Christians,  and  that  herein  and  many  the  like  excel- 
lenees  they  wer«  become  Indians,  excepting  that  name,  as  he  did  in 
another  case,  except  his  bonds.  And  that  you  may  see  not  only 
how  far  religion,  but  civility  liath  taken  place  among  them,  you 
may  be  pleased,  therefore,  to  peruse  t^is  court  order,  which  ia 
bere  inierted. 

TKe  Ordtr  made  latl  General  Conrt  at  Boston,  the  iCt/i  of  Mtg, 
1647,  concerning  the  Indiant,  etc. 

Ujton  information  that  the  Indiana  dwelling  among  us,  and 
eubmitted  In  our  government,  being  by  tlie  ministry  of  the  word 
brought  lo  some  civility,  are  desirous  to  have  a  course  of  ordi- 
nary judicature  set  up  among  them,  it  is  therefore  ordered,  by 
authority  of  this  court,  that  some  one  or  more  of  the  mngistrales, 
OS  they  shall  agree  amongst  themselves,  shall  once  every  quarter 
keep  a  court  al  such  place  where  the  Indians  ordinarily  aasem- 
bte  (o  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  may  then  hear  and  determine 
all  cases,  Iwth  civil  and  criminal,  not  being  capital,  eonccming 
Ihe  Indians  only,  and  that  the  Indian  sachems  shall  have  liberty 
lo  take  order  in  the  nature  of  summons  or  Hllachment«,  lo  bring 
any  of  iheir  own  ]>cople  to  the  said  courw,  and  lo  keep  a  court, 
of  tltemaelveii,  every  month  if  tbey  see  occasion,  lo  determine 
small  causes  of  a  eivil  nature,  and  such  smaller  criminal  causes  as 
Ihe  Mtid  magistrates  ibalt  refer  to  them  ;  and  thi?  said  sachems 
shnll  appoint  ofltcers  to  serve  wnrranis,  and  to  execute  the  orders 
and  judgments  of  either  of  the  said  courts,  which  olTieers  shall 
from  lime  to  time  be  allowed  by  ilie  said  mugii'tnUes  in  the  quar- 
ter courts  or  by  the  governor  ;  and  that  all  lines  lo  be  imposed 
u]H>ti  any  Indian,  in  any  of  the  said  courts,  shall  go  and  bo  be- 
stowed toward  ihe  building  of  some  meeting  bouses,  for  «du(9i- 


L 


TBB  CLKAR 


'  tion  of  iheir  poorer  children  in  lesmin 


r  other  public  ikc,  bj 


the  advice  of  the  eud  magistratee  and  of  Muster  EUol,  or  of 
■uch  other  elder  as  shall  ordinarily  instruct  ihem  in  the  trw 
religion.  And  it  ie  the  desire  of  ihb  court  thiU  these  ma^lntei 
and  lir.  Eliot,  or  such  other  elders  as  shall  attend  the  keeping 
of  the  said  courts,  mill  carefully  endeavor  to  make  the  lodiani 
understand  our  most  useful  laws,  and  the  principles  of  reason, 
jastice,  and  equity  whereupon  they  are  grounded ;  and  it  is  desired 
t^t  eoioe  care  tnay  be  token  of  tUe  Indians  on  the  Lord's  days. 

I  Thus,  having  had  a  desire  to  acquaint  you  with  these  pro- 
oeedingg  among  the  Indians,  and  being  desirous  that  you  might 
more  fully  understand,  especially  from  him  who  is  best  able  to 
judge,  I  did  therefore  entreat  my  brother  Eliot,  after  some  con- 
ference about  these  things,  to  set  dowa  under  his  own  bond  what 
be  bath  observed  lately  among  them;  which  I  do  therefore 
herein  send  unto  you  in  his  own  handwriting,  as  he  sent  it  unto 
mc,  which  I  think  is  worthy  all  Christian  thaiikful  ears  to  hear, 
and  wherein  they  may  see  a  little  of  the  spirit  of  this  tnao  of 
God,  whom  in  other  respects,  but  especially  for  bis  unweoried- 
I  nesa  in  this  work  of  God,  going  up  and  down  among  them,  and 
I  doing  tbem  good,  I  ihiuk  wc  can  never  love  nor  honor  enough. 

[  The  Letter  of  Mr,  Eliot  to  T.  S.  etmceming  the  late  Work  of 
God  among  the  Indiam. 

'  Dkab  BsoTiiKit: 

At  your  desire  I  have  wrote  a  few  things  touching  the  In- 
diana which  at  present  came  to  my  mind,  as  being  some  of  those 
passages  which  took  principal  impression  in  my  heart,  wherein 
I  thought  I  saw  tlie  Lord,  and  said  ihfi  linger  of  God  i«  here. 

^That  which  I  first  aimed  at  was  to  decLtre  and  deliver  unto 
them  the  law  of  God,  to  civiliz;e  them,  which  course  the  Lord 
took  by  Moses  to  give  the  law  to  that  rude  company,  because  of 
transgression,  (Gal.  iii,  19,)  to  convince,  bridle,  restrain,  and 
civilize  tbem,  and  also  to  bumble  them.  But  when  I  first  at- 
tempted it,  they  gave  no  heed  unto  it,  but  were  weary,  and  rather 
despised  what  I  said.  A  while  after  God  stirred  up  in  some  of 
Ihem  a  desire  to  come  into  the  English  fashions,  and  live  after 
their  manner,  but  knew  not  how  to  attain  unto  it,  yea,  dospiured 
(hat  ever  it  should  come  to  pass  in  their  days,  but  thought  tbu 
in  forty  years  more,  some  Indians  would  be  all  one  English,  tuid 
_  in  a  hundred  years,  all  Indiiins  hereabout  would  so  be  \  which 
^k  vhen  I  heard,  (fur  some  of  tlieju  mid  mc  they  ihoDghl  so,  ami 


^L-    k^ 


BRRASBtO   fOKTS  SPOK  TBE  I^DUSS. 


tliM  Mme  wise  Indiflna  saic]  go.)  my  heart  moved  witbm  mc, 
nbliun'iiig  lliat  wu  should  sit  BtJll  and  let  lliut  work  alone,  and 
bofjing  thut  ibis  motion  in  lUtm  was  of  Ihe  LorJ,  aad  that  Ibu 
ntinil  in  them  was  a  preparative  lo  embrace  tlie  law  nod  word  uf 
God ;  and  therefore  I  told  iheni  that  they  and  we  were  already 
nil  one  save  in  two  tliiogs,  whi«L  muke  the  only  difference  be- 
twixt Ibem  ojid  us.  I.  Wu  know,  serve,  and  pray  unio  Gud.nnd 
ihcy  do  not.  2.  We  labor  imd  work  in  building,  planting,  clolU- 
ing  ourselves,  etc,  and  llicy  do  not.  And  would  (bey  but  do  aa 
we  do  in  these  ibiugs,  they  would  be  nil  one  with  Kngtishmcn. 
They  said  they  did  not  know  God,  and  therefore  could  not  tell 
how  to  pray  to  him,  nor  serve  him.  I  told  them,  if  lliey  would 
learn  to  know  God,  I  would  leach  them.  Unto  which  they  being 
very  wilhng,  I  then  taught  them,  (as  I  sundry  limes  Iiad  en- 
deavored alure,)  but  never  found  them  eo  forward,  attentive,  and 
desirous  to  leum  till  this  lime ;  and  then  I  told  them  I  would 
come  to  their  wigwams,  and  teach  them,  (heir  wives  and  children, 
which  they  seemed  very  glad  oTj  and  from  that  day  forward  I 
have  not  failed  lo  do  that  poor  little  which  you  know  I  do. 

I  first  began  with  the  Indians  of  Noonnnetum,  as  you  know,  those 
of  Dorchester  Mill  not  regarding  any  such  thing;  but  the  better 
sort  of  them  perceiving  how  acceptable  this  was  to  the  English, 
both  to  magistrates  and  all  the  good  people,  it  pleased  God  to 
Btep  in  and  bow  their  hearts  to  desire  to  be  taught  to  know  God, 
and  pray  unto  him  likewise;  and  had  not  I  gone  unto  them  also, 
and  taught  them  when  I  did,  they  hod  prevented  me,  and  dc- 
eircd  me  so  to  do,  as  I  afterward  hctird. 

The  eScct  of  the  word  whidi  appears  among  them,  and  the 
cliange  which  is  among  them,  is  this  :  1.  They  have  utterly  for- 
eakea  all  their  powwows,  and  given  over  that  diabolical  cxerciM, 
being  convinced  that  it  is  quite  contrary  lo  praying  unto  God; 
yea,  sundry  of  their  powwows  have  renounced  their  wicked  em- 
ployment, have  condemned  it  as  evil,  and  resolved  never  to  use 
it  any  morcj  others  of  them,  seeing  their  employment  and  gains 
were  utterly  gone  here,  have  fled  to  other  places,  where  they  ore 
etill  entertained,  and  have  raised  lies,  slanders,  and  an  evil  report 
upon  those  that  bear  llie  word,  and  pray  unto  God,  and  also 
upon  the  English,  that  endeavor  to  reclaim  them  and  instruct 
llicm,  ttint  so  they  might  discourage  others  from  praying  onto 
God ;  for  that  they  account  as  a  principal  sign  of  a  good  man, 
and  call  all  religioit  by  tliat  name,  praying  to  God ;  and  beside 
they  mock  and  fcolT  at  those  Indians  which  pray,  and  blaspheme 
......  ...  ...  ^iiji 


God  when  ihcy  pray ;  as  this  is  one  instance :  A  sober  Indiiin, 
going  up  into  the  country  with  two  of  his  eons,  did  pray,  (as  hit 


I 

I 
I 


I    472  TITE  CLEAR  S 


at  liume,)  and  ulketl  to  iht'in  of  Go<I  aad  Je^oi 
Oirist  i  but  they  mocked,  and  caTlni  otif.  of  Us  itt-ns-  Ji^buisli, 
Uid  llie  olher  Jesns  Clirist,  so  ihiit  ihpy  wvic  not  wiilioul  opj»- 
•ition  raised  bj  ihe  powwows,  anil  olher  wicked  Indians. 

Again :  as  ihey  Imivc  f(w«iken  lln-ir  former  reli^on  ani!  man- 
ner of  wonthip.  for  iliej  do  pray  tjnio  God  conslantlj  in  tlicir 
lainilitie,  morning  and  evening,  and  thai  with  ^eat  xflVMiiin,  a« 
hath  been  seen  and  lieiird  by  »Bn<try  that  liaie  jione  lu  ilicir 
wigwams  at  each  times ;  as  also  when  they  go  lo  nient  tliey  ail- 
emtily  pray  and  pre  Ihnnks  to  God  as  they  sec  i)ie  En^ii'h  lo 
do.  So  that  that  corse  iibkh  God  ihreaiens  to  pour  oat  njicai 
the  fiimilics  that  call  not  on  bis  name,  is,  tbrougli  his  graee  luid 
tender  mercy,  stayed  from  breuking  forth  against  them,  nod  when 
they  come  to  English  houEes  they  desire  to  be  tauglil ;  and  if 
meal  be  given  them,  they  pray  and  give  thanks  to  God ;  and 
nsimlly  express  their  great  joy,  that  thej  are  tktigbl  to  know 
God,  nn<I  their  great  affection  lo  them  ibat  teach  them. 

Furthermore,  tUey  are  careful  to  instruct  iheir  ehildren,  thai 
so  when  I  come  they  might  be  reoiJy  lo  answer  their  eaiechism, 
which,  by  ibe  often  repealing  of  it  lo  ihe  cLildifn,  the  men  and 
women  can  readily  answer  [o. 

Likewise  tbey  are  careful  [o  sanctify  the  Sabbath  ;  but  at  tnst 
they  could  not  lell  how  to  do  il,  and  they  asked  of  me  how  they 
should  do  it,  propounding  it  as  n  question  whelher  they  should 
oome  lo  the  English  meetings  or  meet  among  ibemselvcg.  They 
said,  if  they  come  to  tlie  English  meelings,  they  undersiand 
nothing,  or  to  no  puriMne,  and  if  ihej  met  together  among  them- 
selves, they  had  none  ibat  could  teach  ibem.  1  told  them  that  it 
was  not  pleasing  to  God,  nor  profitable  to  themselves,  to  bear  and 
noderstand  nothing,  nor  having  any  that  could  interpret  to  them. 
Therefore  I  counseled  them  to  meet  logclher,  and  de^^ire  tlioee 
that  were  the  wisest  iind  l>est  men  to  pray,  and  then  lo  teach  the 
rest  such  things  as  I  had  taught  ihem  from  Goal's  word,  a«  well 
OS  Ihey  could ;  and  when  one  haih  done,  then  let  another  do  tli« 
like,  and  then  a  third;  and  when  that  was  done,  ask  questions; 
and  if  they  could  not  answer  them,  then  remember  to  ask  me, 
etc.,  and  to  pray  unto  God  to  help  ibem  therein ;  and  this  is  the 
manner  how  they  spend  ihcir  Sabbaths. 

They  are  also  strict  against  nny  profanation  of  lUe  Sabhalb,  bj 
working,  fishing,  hunting,  etc.,  and  have  a  law  to  punish  such  as 
are  delinquents  therein  by  a  fine  of  ten  shillings ;  and  sundry  cases 
they  have  had,  wherein  they  have  very  eirictly  prosecuted  &ucb 
ta  have  any  way  profaned  llic  Sabbiitli.  As  for  example,  upon 
a  Sabbath  morning,  Cutchamaquin,  the  sachem,  bis  wife  going  to 


* 


I 


BREAKINC   FORTH    CPOK   TUB   IKDIANS.  473 

fetch  water,  met  with  oiLer  women,  and  she  began  lo  talk  of 
worldij  matleni,  and  so  h^ld  on  Ilicir  discourse  a  while,  which 
evil  came  to  Nahanion's  ear,  who  waa  to  teach  that  day,  (this 
Nahanton  U  a  sober,  good  man,  and  a  true  friend  to  the  Engtish 
ever  Rince  our  coming:}  so  he  bent  hia  discourse  to  show  the 
sanciilicaiion  of  the  Sabbath,  and  reproved  such  evils  as  did  vio- 
late the  same,  and  among  other  things  worldly  talk,  and  there- 
upon reproved  that  be  heard  of  that  morning.  Af>er  he  had 
iloTie,  tliey  fell  to  iliscourse  about  it,  and  spent  much  time  there- 
in, be  standing  to  prove  that  it  was  a  sin,  and  she  doubting  of  it, 
seeing  it  was  early  in  the  morning  and  in  private ;  and  alleging 
that  be  was  more  lo  blame  than  she,  because  he  had  ocea^ioned 
so  much  discourse  in  the  public  meeting.  But  in  conclusion,  tbcy 
delcrmineil  to  refer  the  case  to  me ;  and  accordingly  they  did  come 
to  my  house  on  the  second  day  morning,  and  opened  all  the  mat- 
ter, and  I  gave  them  such  direction  as  the  Lord  directed  me 
unto,  according  to  his  holy  word. 

Another  case  was  this :  Cpon  a  Lord's  day,  toward  night,  two 
sirangcra  came  to  Waban's  wigwam,  (it  being  usual  with  them  to 
travel  on  that  day.  as  on  any  other ;)  and  when  they  cnme  in, 
iliiy  lold  him  thai  at  a  place  about  a  mile  off  they  had  chased  a 
riiccoon,  and  he  took  himself  into  a  hollow  tree,  and  if  tliey 
would  go  with  them,  they  might  fell  the  free  and  take  himi  at 
which  liilings  Waban  being  willing  to  be  so  well  provided  to 
entertain  those  strangers,  (a  common  practice  among  them,  freely 
to  oiiti^rlain  travelers  and  sirangers,)  he  sent  his  two  servants 
with  iliem,  who  felled  the  tree  and  took  the  beast.  But  this  act 
of  tits  viui  an  offense  lo  tlie  rest,  who  judgc-d  it  a  violation  of  the 
Sabbaili,  mid  moved  agiinlion  among  them ;  but  the  conclusion 
was,  it  WHS  to  be  moved  as  a  question  upon  the  next  lecture  day, 
wliich  was  accordingly  done,  and  received  such  answer  as  the 
Lord  guiiled  linio  by  his  word. 

Another  case  was  this :  Upon  a  Lord's  day,  their  public  meeting 
holding  long,  aiid  somewhat  late,  when  they  came  at  home,  in 
uric  wigw&ra  the  fire  was  almost  out,  and  ibcrefore  the  man  of 
the  bouse,  as  be  sat  by  the  fireside,  look  his  hatchet  and  split  a 
liiile  di7  piece  of  wood,  which  they  reserve  on  purpose  for  such 
u<:e,  and  so  kindled  his  Arc;  which  being  taken  notice  of,  it  was 
thought  to  be  such  a  work  as  might  not  be  lawfully  done  upon 
the  Sabbath  day,  and  therefore  the  case  was  propounded  the 
lecture  following  for  their  better  information. 

These  instances  may  serve  to  show  their  care  of  the  external 
observation  of  the  Sabbath  day. 

In  my  exercise  among  them,  (as  you  know,)  we  attend  four 
40' 


ami  tktj  had  mmdt  m  law  againct  it.  and  m« 
■liet—pBM  he  WM  poblklj  bron^  fbctk  before  the  assenblj, 
wUeh  WM  great  iMt  daj.  Tor  oar  pnttu^  mid  nanj  odier 
EMiwh  people  were  pmeni :  tb«  mwi  wbcdlj  randemDcd  him- 
•eu  witbotU  anj  eicu*e.  Ami  «beii  be  wa«  asked  what  proro- 
estioa  bis  wife  gave  him,  ba  did  not  !n  the  leftM  measure  blame 
ber,  but  hunself.  And  when  the  qualilj  of  tbe  sin  was  upeoed, 
tlial  it  wa*  crueltjr  to  his  own  bod<r,  and  against  God's  com- 
maadiDeat,  and  ibat  pauion  wa«  a  sin,  and  much  aggravated  hj 
•ndi  effecu,  yet  God  was  teadjr  lo  pardon  it  injC'hrisi.  eic^  be 
turned  his  face  to  llie  wall,  and  wept,  though  with  modest  en- 
deavor to  hide  it :  and  Duch  was  rhe  modest,  penitent,  and  melting 
bobavior  of  tfae  niui,  that  it  much  afTecled  all  to  see  it  in  a  bai^ 
bariun,  and  nil  did  forgive  hiui.  Only  ibia  remained,  that  they 
axoculeil  their  law  iiotwiih&landing  hie  repentance,  and  reqaired 
bii  Anf,  to  which  he  willingly  submitted,  and  paid  it 

Another  cuie   of  iidtnoniiion   was  this :    Culcheraac)uin,  the 
■ackem,  having  a  son  about  fourteen  or  fifleen  yeui^  old,  he  bad 
boon  drunk,  und  bud  behaved  hinuelf  diaubediently  and  rebel-   ' 
liously  against  liis  father  and  mother,  for  which  sin  tliey  did  blam« 
him,  but  he  deHjiised  their  admonition.     And  before  I  knew  of  it,  f 
1  did  ubttorTc,  when  1  catechized  him,  when  he  stiould  say  the   • 
Hftli  coninntnilmonl,  lie  ilid  not  freely  »ay,  "  Honor  thy  father,"  but  I 
wbully  loft  out  "  nuithci,"  and  so  he  did  the  lecture  day  before;  j 


BREAKtNG   fOBTH    UPOS   THE   ISPIASS.  475 

but  when  llib  sin  of  his  waa  produced,  lie  was  irnlled  forlh  bcfora 
(he  asMinbly,  oiiil  hti  t'oiiresscJ  that  whul  wiis  Kiiid  a<i;ninst  hint 
wus  true  ;  but  he  full  to  acvuae  his  futber  of  suodry  evila,  us  thai 
hu  would  have  kiUinl  him  in  bis  anger,  and  th»l  lie  forced  him  lo 
drink  sack,  and  I  know  not  wbxt  else,  which  bubavior  we  greatly 
disliked,  showed  him  the  eril  of  it,  and  Mr.  Wibon,  beint;  present, 
labored  much  with  him,  for  he  nnderslnod  the  English,  but  all  in 
vain  ;  hi^  heart  whj  hard  and  hu|K:l(;»s  for  that  time.  Therefore. 
using  due  loving  persuiuione,  we  did  Rharplj*  admonish  him  of 
h\s  sin,  and  required  him  lo  answer  further  ihe  next  leelurc  da/, 
and  80  left  him.  And  bo  stout  be  wus  that  when  his  fatlier 
offered  to  jiay  his  fine  of  ten  sbillingH  for  hia  drunkenness  neeord- 
ing  to  their  liiw,  he  would  not  nceept'it  at  his  bund.  When  tlie 
tiKXl  day  was  come,  and  other  cxerciMs  Hnishod,  1  oUlud  him  forth, 
nnd  he  willingly  came,  but  still  in  the  same  mind  as  before. 
Then  we  turned  lo  his  father,  and  exhorted  bim  lo  removir  that 
stumbling  block  out  of  his  son's  way,  by  conferaing  his  own  sins, 
whereby  he  had  given  oecasion  of  hardness  of  heart  lo  his  ton; 
which  thing  waa  not  sudden  to  him,  for  ]  hwl  formerly  in  pri- 
vate prepared  him  thereto.  And  he  was  very  willing,  to  hearken 
to  ihat  counsel,  l>ecause  hie  conscience  lold  him  he  was  bl«rae- 
worthy,  and  accordingly  he  did;  he  oonfeiMed  his  mmu  and  priii- 
ciput  evils  of  bia  own  accord,  and  upon  this  advtmtagc  1  tuuk 
occasion  to  put  him  upon  confession  of  sundry  other  vices  which 
I  knew  ho  bail  in  former  limes  bern  guilty  of,  and  oil  the  Ind'uins 
knew  it  likewis*!,  and  put  It  afler  ibis  manner:  Are  joit  now 
sorry  fur  your  drunkenness,  lilihiness,  false  ilwlini;,  lying,  etc, 
which  sins  jfou  committed  before  you  knew  God  ?  Unto  all 
which  caaes  he  expressed  himself  sorrowful,  and  condemned  him- 
self for  iheni ;  which  example  of  the  sacliem  was  prufitable  for 
all  Ihe  Indians. 

And  wkeu  he  bad  thus  confeased  Im  sins,  we  turned  again  to 
his  son,  and  labored  with  him,  requiring  him  lo  confess  his  sins, 
and  entreat  God  to  forgive  him  for  Christ's  sake,  and  to  eonfesM 
liis  otTense  ugaitut  his  father  and  mother,  and  cnlrcnt  them  lo 
forgive  him  ;  bul  he  still  refufied.  And  now  tlie  other  Indians 
spuke  unto  him  soberly  un<l  affect ionalely,  lo  put  him  or,  and 
divers  sjuike  one  after  another,  and  some  several  llmen.  Ur. 
Wil»on  again  did  much  labor  with  him,  and  at  last  ho  did  hum- 
ble himself,  confinwvd  all,  and  entreated  bia  father  in  IbrgiTe  him, 
nnd  look  him  by  the  hand,  at  which  his  father  burst  forth  into 
great  weeping.  He  did  the  same  aiiw  tu  bis  mother,  who  wept 
also,  and  so  did  divers  oihers.  And  immy  English  being  prvient, 
tbey  f«Il  a-weeping,  so  ibal  the  house  was  filled  wiib  weeping  on 


I 

I 


-176  THE    CLEAH   SES9II1SE   OF  THE   OOSFEL 

every  eiile  ;  and  then  we  »'cnt  lo  prayer,  in  all  which  time  Cuicb- 
amaquin  wepi,  insomiich  that  when  we  li)u}  done  the  board  ho 
stood  upon  was  all  dropped  with  his  tears. 

Anotiier  cnsc  of  admonition  was  this  :  A  lioperul  youDg  man, 
who  is  my  servant,  being  upon  a  journey,  and  drinking  sack  at 
their  getting  forth,  he  drank  too  much,  and  waa  disguised ;  which 
when  I  heard,  I  reproved  him,  and  he  humbled  himself  with  oon- 
fesaion  of  his  sin  and  lear«.  And  the  next  lecture  day  I  u^lcd 
him  furih  before  the  assembly,  where  he  did  confess  hid  ain  with 

Uofore  I  leave  this  point  of  admonition,  if  1  thought  it  would 
not  be  too  tedious  to  you,  I  would  mention  one  particular  more, 
where  we  saw  the  power  Of  God  awing  a  wicked  wretch  by  this 
ordinance  of  admonition.  It  was  George,  that  wicked  Indian, 
who,  na  you  know,  at  our  first  beginnings,  sought  to  cast  asper- 
sions upon  religion,  by  laying  slanderous  accusations  against 
godly  men,  and  who  asked  that  captious  question.  Who  made 
eaek  ?  And  this  fellow,  having  killed  a  young  cow  at  your  town, 
and  sold  it  at  the  college  instead  of  moose,  covered  it  with  many 
lies,  in»oniueh  as  Mr.  Dunstcr  was  loth  he  should  be  directly 
charged  with  it  when  he  culled  him  forth,  but  that  we  sbould 
Dither  inquire.  But  when  he  was  called  before  the  assembly, 
und  charged  with  it,  he  had  not  power  to  deny  it,  but  presently 
confessed,  only  he  added  one  thing,  which  we  think  was  an 
excuse.     Thus  God  bath  honored  this  ordinance  among  them. 

Fourthly.  The  last  exercise,  you  know,  we  have  among  them, 
is  their  asking  us  questions ;  and  very  many  they  hnve  a~tked, 
which  I  have  forgollen,  but  some  few  that  come  to  my  present 
remembrance  1  will  briefly  touch. 

One  was  Wubbakowet's  question,  who  is  reputed  on  old 
powwow.  It  was  to  this  purpose  :  Seeing  the  English  had  been 
twenty-seven  years  {some  of  ihem)  in  this  land,  why  did  we 
never  teacli  [hem  to  know  God  till  now?  "Had  you  done  it 
sooner,"  said  he,  *'  we  might  have  known  much  of  God  by  tbis 
time,  and  mueh  fin  might  have  been  prevented ;  but  now  some 
of  us  are  grown  old  in  sin,"  etc.  To  whom  we  answered,  that 
we  do  repent  lliat  we  did  not  long  ago,  as  now  we  do;  jet 
withal,  we  told  ihcm  that  they  were  never  willing  to  hear  till 
now,  and  that,  seeing  God  liath  bowed  their  hearts  to  be  willing  to 
hear,  we  are  desirous  to  take  all  the  pains  we  cun  now  to  teach 

Another  question  was  that  of  Culehamaquin,  to  this  purpose  : 
"  Before  I  knew  God,"  said  he,  "  I  thought  I  was  well ;  but  since  I 
have  known  God  and  sin,  I  find  my  heart  full  of  sin,  and  more 


BREXKINO  FOBXn   CPOS  THB   moUIfS.  477 

Binful  thnn  ever  it  wns  before  :  anil  this  hatli  b^en  a  great  Iroti- 
ble  to  me  ;  nriil  at  this  1I117  my  heaii  is  but  very  little  better  than 
it  was,  and  I  iiin  afraiii  it  will  be  as  bod  again  as  it  was  before ; 
and  thcrelbre  I  someiimes  wisb  I  might  die  before  I  be  »o  bad 
again  sia  I  have  been.  Now  mj  question  is,  Whether  is  this  s  sin 
or  not  ?"  Tlijg  <juestion  could  not  be  learned  from  llie  English, 
nor  did  It  seem  a  coined  feigned  ihing,  but  a  real  mailer,  gathered 
from  the  experienee  of  liis  own  heart,  and  from  an  inward  ob- 
servation of  himself. 

Another  question  was  about  their  children  —  whither  their 
little  children  go  when  ihej  die,  seeing  tliey  liare  not  sinned. 
Which  i]ucslion  gave  occasion  more  fully  to  teach  them  original 
din,  and  the  damned  stale  of  all  men.  And  ulso  and  especially 
it  gave  occasion  to  teach  them  the  covcnnnt  of  God,  which 
he  hath  made  with  all  his  people,  and  with  their  children;  so 
that,  when  God  chooses  a  mrax  or  a  woman  to  be  his  servant,  ha 
chooses  all  their  children  to  be  so  also  ;  which  doctrine  was  ex- 
ceedingly grateful  unto  them. 

Another  great  question  was  this  :  When  I  preach  out  of  1  Cor. 
I  i.  :i-l  t,  uM  Mr.  Brown,  being  present,  observed  tbem  to  be  much 
iiirected,  and  one  especially  did  weep  very  much,  though  cov- 
ered it  what  he  could.  And  aflcr  that  there  wa«  a  general 
question  which  they  sent  unto  me  about,  by  my  man,  aa  the 
question  of  them  all  —  whether  any  of  tliem  should  go  to  heaven, 
seeing  they  found  their  heart  fall  of  sin,  and  c^jieciully  full  of 
the  sin  of  lust,  which  titey  call  naawaiiarudsqaai,  (hat  is  mad  after 
women.  And  the  next  meeting  being  at  Dorchester  Mill,  Mr, 
Mather  and  Mr.  Wareham,  with  divers  others,  being  present,  ihcy 
did  there  propound  it,  expressing  their  fears  that  none  of  them 
should  h«  saved ;  which  question  did  draw  forth  my  heart  to  preach, 
and  press  tlie  promise  of  pardon  to  all  that  were  weary  and  sick 
uf  tin,  if  lliey  did  believe  in  Christ,  who  bad  died  for  us,  and 
saliiticd  the  justice  of  God  for  all  our  sins,  and  through  whom 
God  is  well  pleased  with  all  such  repenting  sinners  that  come  to 
Christ  and  believe  in  him.  And  the  nest  day  I  look  that  test. 
Matt.  xi.  2H,  29  i  and  this  doctrbe  some  of  them  in  a  s[K)cial 
manlier  did  receive  in  a  very  reverent  manner. 

There  id  another  great  (lucstion  thai  haib  been  several  times 
propounded,  and  much  sticks  with  such  as  begin  to  pray,  namely: 
If  they  leave  off  powwowing,  and  pray  to  God,  what  sliall  ther 
du  wlu^n  they  are  sick  ?  fur  they  have  no  skill  in  physic,  though 
sume  of  tliem  understand  tlie  virtues  uf  sundry  things ;  yet  the 
state  of  man's-body.  and  skill  to  apply  them,  ll«y  have  not  i  but 
all  the  refugs  ibey  have  utd  rely  upon  in  time  of  sicknew  ii 


i   CLEAIl   StJNSniNE   OF   TIIR    UOsrEL 

tL<iir  [wwwon-s,  tvho,  by  notic,  foolisli,  and  irrational  cooceits 
delude  the  poor  people-  So  tUat  it  U  a  verj  neBilful  thing  to  in- 
form them  in  the  use  of  phjsic,  and  u  most  eflcotuni  mentis  la 
take  thcni  oEf  from  tLeir  powwowing.  Some  of  iLe  wiser  sort 
I  Imve  stirred  up  lo  get  ibU  skill.  I  have  showed  them  the  aiiit- 
Oiny  of  mom's  body,  and  some  general  principles  of  phytic,  which 
is  very  acceptable  to  them,  but  ihcy  nre  so  extremt-Iy  ignorsnt 
thut  these  things  must  rather  be  langht  by  sight,  sense,  and  ex- 
periunee,  than  by  precepts  and  rules  of  art  And  therefore  I 
have  had  many  thoughts  in  my  hear),  that  it  were  a  singular 
good  work,  if  the  Lord  would  stir  up  the  hearts  of  some  or  other 
of  his  people  in  England  to  give  some  maintenance  toward  aomc 
school  or  collegiate  exercise  this  way,  wherein  there  should  be 
HOalomiea  and  other  instructions  that  way,  and  where  there  might 
be  some  recompense  given  to  any  that  should  bring  ia  any 
vegetable  or  other  thing  that  is  virtuous  in  the  way  of  phyiic 
^y  this  means  we  should  soon  have  oil  these  things  wludi 
they  know,  and  others  of  our  countrymen  that  are  skilful  that 
way,  and  now  their  skill  lies  huried  for  want  of  encouragement, 
would  be  a-searching  and  trying  to  find  out  the  virtues  of  things 
in  this  country,  whieh  doubtless  are  many,  and  would  not  a  litde 
conduce  to  the  benedt  of  the  people  of  ibis  country,  and,  it  may 
be,  of  our  native  country  also.  By  this  means  we  should  train 
up  tlioso  poor  Indians  in  that  skiU  which  would  confound  and  root 
out  their  powwows,  and  then  would  they  be  far  more  easily  in* 
cl'red  to  leave  those  ways,  and  pray  unto  God,  whose  gift  physic 
is,  Olid  whose  blessing  must  make  it  clfeclual. 

There  is  also  another  reason  which  moves  my  thought,  and  de- 
sires this,  viz.,  that  our  young  students  in  physic  may  be  trained 
up  better  than  yet  they  be  who  have  only  theoretical  knowledge, 
and  are  forced  to  fall  lo  practice  before  they  saw  an  anatomy 
made,  or  duly  H-ained  up  in  making  experiments;  for  we  never 
liad  but  one  anatomy  in  the  country,  which  Kir.  Giles  Firman 
(now  in  England)  did  make  and  read  upon  very  welL  But  no 
more  of  tliat  now. 

This  veiy  day  that  I  wrote  these  things  unto  you,  I  have  been 
with  the  Indians  to  teach  them,  as  1  was  wont  to  do.  And  one 
of  their  questions,  among  many  others,  was,  lo  know  what  to  say  lo 
'i  Indians  us  oppose  their  praying  to  God,  and  believing  in 
And  for  their  own  informa^on  also,  "  What  get 
y  they,  "by  praying  to  God  and  believing  in  Jesus Cbrist?" 
o  naked  still,  iind  you  are  as  poor  as  we,  and  our  com  is  u 
s  yours,  and  wo  take  more  pleasure  than  you.  Did  we  see 
ti  got  any  thing  by  it,  we  would  pray  to  God,  and  believe 


BBLAKiXG  touTU  veos  Tuii  ixDiA.va.  479 

in  Jeaug  Christ  alao  as  you  do.  Vato  wliicli  iiuesiion  I  then  an' 
ewurcii  ihcm.  1.  God  givclh  unto  us  iwo  sorts  of  good  things : 
one  sort  are  liltle  ones,  which  I  ahowcd  by  my  little  finger  ;  the 
oiber  sort  are  great  ones,  which  I  shoived  by  my  thumb,  (for 
you  know  they  u^e  and  delight  in  demo oslral ions :)  the  little 
mercies  are  riches,  as  cloihts,  food,  suL-k,  houses,  caiilc,  and 
pletisures  ;  these  ore  little  things  which  serve  but  for  our  bodies 
u  little  while  in  this  life:  the  great  mercies  are  wisdom,  the 
knowledge  of  God,  Christ,  eternal  lite,  repentance,  faith,  —  these 
iii-e  mertics  for  the  soul,  and  for  eternal  life.  Now,  though  God 
do  nut  yet  give  you  (he  little  mercies,  he  givetli  you  that  which 
is  a  great  deal  better,  which  the  wicked  Indians  can  not  sec. 
And  tills  1  proved  to  them  by  this  example:  When  Foxun,  the 
Mohi.'gan  counselor,  who  b  counted  tlie  wisest  Indian  in  the 
country,  was  in  the  bay,  I  did  on  purpose  bring  him  unto  yon. 
and  when  he  was  here,  you  saw  he  was  a  fool  in  comparison  of 
you,  for  you  could  speak  of  God,  and  Christ,  and  heaven,  and 
repentance,  and  faith ;  but  he  sat  and  had  not  one  word  to  say, 
unless  you  talked  of  such  poor  things  as  bunting,  wars,  etc.  2, 
You  hiive  some  more  clothes  than  they,  and  the  reason  why  you 
have  no  more  is,  because  you  have  but  little  wisdom  ;  if  you  were 
more  wise  to  know  God,  and  obey  bis  commands,  you  would 
wurk  more  than  you  do ;  for  so  God  commandeth,  Si:£  day*  ihou 
ili<dt  tcork,  etc,  and  thus  the  English  do.  And  if  you  would  be 
»o  wise  Hs  to  work  as  they  do,  you  would  have  clothes,  houses, 
tuitle,  riches,  as  they  have ;  God  would  give  you  them. 

This  day  they  told  mc  this  news,  that  some  of  ihem  having 
bcL-n  nbroiul  in  the  country  at  Titaeul,  divers  of  those  Indians 
would  be  glad  n>  know  God,  and  to  pray  unto  God,  and  would  be 
glad  if  I  would  come  and  teach  ihei))i  but  some  of  them  opposed, 
und  would  not.  TUey  asked  me  this  day  why  God  made  the 
rairilmw.  These  things  are  now  fresh  in  my  mind,  that  makes 
nie  so  brgc  in  them ;  but  I  will  forbear  any  more  of  their  ques- 
tions of  this  nature. 

There  do  sundry  times  fall  out  dilferenccs  among  them,  and 
lliey  usually  bring  their  cases  to  me,  and  sometimes  such  as  it  is 
nucdfiil  for  ine  to  decline.  Where  I  may,  1  advise  them  to  somn 
'\>-.iui.  One  great  ca^c,  that  hath  come  several  limes  to  me,  is 
alHiut  some  debts  aa  they  owe  by  gaming,  for  they  have  been 
great  gumesiers,  but  have  moved  questions  about  ii,  and  arc  in- 
formed of  ihe  unlanfulncasof  it,ax»d  have  thereupon  wholly  given 
over  gaming  for  any  wages,  nod  all  games  wherein  is  a  lot,  onljr 
use  lawful  recreations,  and  have  a  law  against  unLiwlul  gikming ; 
but  otiier  Indiomi,  that  are  of  another  miud,  come  and  chaUcoge 


I 


I 


4S0 


THE   CLEA 


t  srniiiisi:  or  rut: 


ihi'ir  old  deblft,  find  now  iliej  refuse  lo  pay,  bemttise  it  was  >  an 
(o  {Time,  and  they  now  pray  lo  God,  and  thi'n-fore  most  not  pM 
sucli  sinrul  debts.  Now,  the  case  bt^ing  sprious,  and  such  u  I 
eaw  It  snare  underiienth,  the  first  counst;!  they  had  was,  whoever 
would  cliallenge  such  a  debt  shoidd  come  to  our  governor,  and  be 
would  take  order  to  rectify  the  tnatler.  But  ibe  creditors  likoj 
not  ihnt  way,  and  therefore  soon  after  there  came  another  cs^e  of 
llie  tnme  kind,  and  an  issue  was  very  neccdsary ;  tlicrefore  I  Gnt 
deuU  with  the  creditor,  and  showed  him  the  sinfulne:^  of  such 
games,  and  how  angry  God  was  at  ihem ;  mid  llierefiire  per- 
HuaJed  liim  lo  be  content  lo  tnke  half  his  debt,  unto  which  be 
very  willingly  condescended.  Then  I  dealt  with  ihe  debtor,  anil 
nsked  him  if  he  did  not  promise  to  pay  him  aU  that  debt.  And 
he  nnswered,  yen,  he  did  so.  Then  1  showed  him  timt  God 
commands  us  to  perform  our  promises,  and  though  he  sinned  in 
gaming,  he  limsi  repent  of  ihrn;  but  seeing  he  hath  promised 
payment,  he  should  sin  lo  hretik  his  promise ;  at  whieb  he  wM 
utterly  silenced.  But  then  1  asked  him  if  he  wnuld  willingly 
nay  half,  if  I  should  persuade  the  other  lo  nccepl  it;  yea,  said 
he,  rcry  willingly ;  and  bo  the  matter  ended.  And  in  this  way 
they  usually  end  such  cases  since  that  time.  Their  young  men, 
who,  of  oil  the  rest,  live  most  idly  and  dii^solulely,  now  begin  to  go 
10  service,  some  to  Indians,  some  to  English.  And  some  of  them, 
growing  wear}-,  broke  out  of  their  service,  and  ihcy  bad  no  help 
among  them  for  it;  so  that  some  propounded  what  they  should 
do  to  remedy  that  evil.  They  were  answered,  that  Ihe  English 
bring  such  servants  to  the  coni'i,  and  our  magistrates  rectify  those 
evils.  Tlien  Ihey  desired  that  they  might  have  a  eourl  among 
Ihem  for  government,  nt  which  motion  we  rejoiced,  aeemg  it 
came  from  themselves,  and  tended  so  much  to  civiliie  them. 
Since  which  time  I  moved  the  General  Court  in  il,  and  they 
hn\e  pleased  lo  order  a  way  for  exercising  government  among 
ihem.     The  good  Lord  proi^pcr  and  bless  il. 

They  moved  aliso,  as  you  know,  for  a  school ;  and  through 
God's  mercy  a  course  is  now  lakon  that  there  be  sehoob  at  both 
places,  where  their  children  are  laughl. 

You  know,  likewise,  that  we  exhorted  them  to  fence  ihrir 
ground  with  ditches,  stone  walls  upon  the  banks,  and  proiniseil 
lo  help  them  with  shovels,  spades,  matlocks,  crows  of  iron  ;  and 
Ihey  were  very  desirous  lo  follow  that  counsel,  and  call  upon  nro 
to  help  ihem  with  lools  faster  than  I  can  gel  them,  though  I  have 
now  bought  n  pretty  store,  and  they,  I  hope,  arc  iit  work.  The 
women  are  'Wirons  lo  leiini  to  spin,  and  I  have  procured  wheeU 


for  sundry  of  them,  iind  ihey 


spin  pretty  well.     They  begin 


BltKAKlNti    fOBTU    UPON   THE   IXUIANS.  481 

to  grow  iuduslrioiij,  and  find  soractliing  lo  soil  nt  rnitrkel  all  the 
year  long.  All  wiiilcr  they  sell  lirooins.  staves,  eel  pots,  bHskels, 
turkeys;  in  the  spring,  et^nberries,  fish,  strawberries;  in  the 
Eummer,  whortleberries,  grai)e9,  fish;  in  ihe  autumn  they  sell 
cranberries,  fish,  venison,  etc.  And  Ibey  find  a  good  benefit  by 
the  marlcet,  and  grow  more  to  make  use  thereof.  Besides  sundry 
of  them  work  with  the  English  in  hay  time  and  harvest ;  but  yet 
it  is  not  comparable  with  what  they  might  do,  if  they  were 
industrious;  and  old  boughs  must  be  bent  a  tittle  at  once.  If  we 
can  Bet  the  young  twigs  in  a  better  bent,  it  will  be  God'a.mercy. 

Dear  brother,  I  can  go  no  further :  a  weary  body  and  sleepy 
eyes  command  me  lo  conclude.  If  I  have  not  satisfied  your  de- 
Bire  in  this  little  I  have  wrote,  let  me  understand  it  from  you,  and 
I  shall  be  willing  to  do  my  endeavor.  And  thus  with  dear  love 
remembered  lo  yourself  end  your  beloved  yokefellow,  and  de- 
siring your  prayers  for  God's  grace  and  bleraing  upon  my  spirit 
and  poor  endeavors,  I  lake  leave  at  this  time,  and  rest 
Your  loving  brotber  in  our  Saviour  Christ, 

JottN  Eliot. 

Rozbnry,  Ihit  24lh  of  September,  1647. 

I^t  me  add  this  postscript  —  that  there  be  two  reasons  that 
make  me  believe  the  Lord's  time  is  come  lo  make  a  preparatiuD 
nt  least  for  the  ooming  of  bis  grace  and  kingdom  auiong  them. 
1.  That  he  bath  bowed  their  licorts,  who  were  as  averse  and  as 
far  olT  from  God  as  any  heathen  in  the  world,  and  iheir  hearts 
begin  lo  bow  more  and  more.  2.  Because  the  Lord  hath  rtused 
a  mighty  spirit  of  prayer  in  Ibis  belialf  in  idl  tbo  churches. 

This  reUilion  of  Mr.  Eliot's,  I  know  many  things  theruin  to  be 
true,  and  alt  the  rest  I  have  heard  confirmed  by  credible  perwns, 
oyc  and  car  witnesses  of  those  things,  and  ihey  are  familiarly 
known  in  these  parts.  I  know  aUo  that  Mr.  Eliot  writes  (aa 
his  spirit  is)  modestly  and  sparingly,  and  speaks  Ihe  least  in 
sundry  particulars  ;  for  in  his  story  ot'  Ihe  repentance  and  public 
Stlmouitinn  of  his  own  man,  (page  476.)  tie  sailh  he  manifested 
nany  tears  in  public  ;  but  1  heard  it  from  many  then  present  tliat 
there  were  so  many  ns  that  the  dry  place  of  the  wigwam  where 
he  blood  was  l>ediriied  with  them,  pouring  them  out  so  abun- 
dantly. Indians  arc  well  known  not  lo  be  much  sidijcct  to  tears ; 
no,  not  when  tliey  eomc  lo  feel  the  sorest  torture,  or  are  Boleiimly 
brought  forlh  lo  die.  And  if  the  word  works  the^e  tears,  surely 
there  is  some  conquering  |>ower  of  Christ  Jesus  stirring  among 
them,  whieh  whM  it  will  end  in  at  last  the  I<ord  best  knows. 
If  Mr.  Itrightmnn's  interpretation  of  Daftiel's  prophecy  be  true, 
vuL.  111.  41 


I 


I 
I 


482  TUK    CLC&B   SL'NSEIINE   OF   THE   GOSrEL 

that  wino  1650  Europe  will  hear  some  of  ibe  best  tidings  that 
ever  came  into  ihe  world,  tik.,  raroors  from  the  eastern  Jewi, 
which  sluUl  trouble  [lie  Turkiiih  tjrani  and  shake  his  pillars 
when  they  are  coming  lo  repossess  their  own  land,  for  which  they 
will  be  wrestling  (if  my  memory  fails  nol,  according  to  lui 
notion)  about  forty  years.  I  shall  hope  then  that  these  wesien 
Indian;)  will  soon  come  tn,  and  that  these  beginnings  are  but  pre- 
paratives for  a  brighter  day  than  we  yet  see  among  ihem,  where- 
in east  and  west  shall  sing  the  song  of  the  Lamb.  But  I  haT« 
no  skiH  in  prophecies,  nor  do  I  beliere  every  man'?  intcrpreia- 
tioii  of  such  scripture.  But  this  is  certain — God  is  M  work 
among  these,  and  it  is  not  usual  for  the  sun  to  eel  as  soon  as  it 
begins  to  rise,  nor  for  the  Lord  Jesos  to  lose  an  inch  of  ground 
in  the  recovering  times  of  his  churches'  peace  and  his  own 
eclipsed  and  forgotten  glory,  (if  there  be  such  times,)  until  be 
halb  won  the  whole  field,  and  driven  the  prince  of  darkness  oat 
of  it,  who  is  but  a  bold  usurper  of  the  Lord  Jesus's  inheritance, 
to  whom  are  given  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth.  When  Charles 
the  Great  had  broken  the  chief  power  of  the  barbarous  and 
fierce  Sasons  in  Germany,  he  made  this  the  only  article  of 
peace,  that  they  should  entertain  such  a  gospel  as  good  then  as  I 
the  dogenentte  Christian  world  could  afford,  and  tor  that  end  1 
admit  of  a  monastery  among  them  of  such  men  as  might  instruct 
them.  And  this  course  prevailed.  If  we  may  believe  Crantzius, 
(lib.  i.  ch.  1,  2,)  the  historian  of  those  times.  And  shall  we 
think  that  when  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  set  up,  not  a  monastery  of 
works,  but  churches  of  saints,  in  these  coasts,  to  encourage  the 
ministry  and  this  work  of  Christ,  that  his  blessed  gospel  can  not 
or  shall  not  in  these  days  take  some  effect,  since  it  halh  broke  so 
far  ?  I  dare  conclude  nothing,  only  it  will  be  our  comfort,  in  the 
day  of  our  accounts,  that  we  have  endeavored  something  this 
way ;  and  it  may  be  ibis  very  endeavor  shall  be  our  peace. 
Gildas,  our  British  lustorinn,  observing  that  one  cause  why  God 
let  loose  ihe  Saxons  lo  scourge  and  root  out  the  Britons  was 
thoir  deep  carelessness  of  communicating  unio  them  the  Chris- 
-linn  religion  when  they  hod  their  spirits  at  fit  advantage;  but 
I  dure  not  discourse  of  these  matters. 

One  thing  more  I  remember  concerning  Mr.  Eliot's  confercoce 
with  a  Narraganset  sachem,  a  sober  man,  this  year.  After  ihftl 
he  had  taught  this  sachem  the  law  of  God,  and  had  showed  him 
the  means  of  salvation  by  Christ,  he  then  asked  him  if  he  did 
know  and  understand  those  things ;  and  he  said,  yes.  He  then 
ftsked  him  if  be  did  believe  them ;  but  he  could  not  get  any  an- 
swer from  him  that  way,  but  did  seem  to  take  them  into  mon 


BREAKING   FOBTH   ITTON   THB  IKIMAN9,  483 

serious  thoughla.  fte  Ihen  naked  hira  why  they  ilid  not  leam  of  I 
Mr.  WilliBms,  who  halh  lived  »iDong  lliem  ilivera  years  i  and  ho 
soberly  answered  that  they  did  not  care  to  team  of  him,  because 
he  is  no  good  man,  but  goes  out  aiid  works  upon  the  Sabbalh 
day.  I  name  it  not  to  show  what  glimmerings  nature  may 
have  coDccrning  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  but  to  show 
what  the  ill  example  of  English  may  do,  and  lo  see  what  a  stum- 
bling block  lo  all  religion  the  loose  observation  of  the  Sabbalh 
ia,  however  man's  shifting  wits  may  find  out  evasions,  to  gel 
loose  from  out  of  that  net  -' 

But  this  may  serve  to  satisfy  your  own  and  others'  desires 
concerning  the  progress  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians.  The 
Lord  Jesus  seems  at  this  day  to  be  turning  upside  down  the 
whole  frame  of  things  in  the  world — kings,  parliaments,  armies, 
kingdoms,  authorities,  churches,  ministers.  And  if  out  of  his  frett 
grace  be  looks  not  upon  these  hopeful  beginnings,  these  will  he 
BO  turned  also,  for  opposition  there  is  from  men  and  devils  against 
it.  And  I  have  feared  my  own  beaK  that  within  these  few 
months  there  hath  been  some  coolings  among  the  best  of  these 
Indians ;  but  we  find  it  so  also  among  many  people  that  are 
English  in  their  first  work,  hut  the  Lord  Jesus  revives  again. 
And  therefore  Mr.  Eliot  of  late  having  told  them  that  he  was 
afraid  that  they  i>egan  to  be  weary,  they  look  it  to  heart,  and 
propounded  in  my  hearing,  at  a  late  Indian  lecture  at  Noonano- 
turo,  many  profitable  (questions,  viz. :  when  they  prayed  and 
heard  the  word  aright ;  and  bow  they  might  know  when  they 
were  weary  of  them :  and  what  time  it  might  be  before  the 
Lord  might  come  and  make  ihem  know  him ;  and  what  the 
first  sin  of  the  devil  was ;  (he  discoursing  (o  them  about  iho 
danger  of  apostasy.)  At  this  time  they  are  (as  you  may  per- 
ceivo  by  Mr.  Eliot's  writings)  about  fencing  in  their  ground  and 
town  given  ihem,  some  hundreds  of  acres,  with  a  stone  fence,  for 
which  end  Mr.  Eliot  provides  them  maiiocka,  shovels,  and  crowa 
of  iron,  etc. ;  and  to  encourage  their  diligence,  promised  to  give 
a  groat  or  aixpence  a  rod.  if  they  would  thus  far  attend  their 
own  good,  and  work  for  themselves.  All  the  poor  Indians  nt 
Koonanetum  are  generally  clad  with  such  clotlies  as  we  can  gel 
them,  and  the  wigwams  of  the  meanest  of  Ihem  equalise  any 
sachems'  in  other  places,  being  built,  not  with  mats,  bnl  with 
barks  of  trees  in  good  bigness,  the  rather  that  they  may  have 
their  partitions  in  them  for  husbands  and  wives  together,  and 
their  children  and  servants  in  their  places  also,  who  formerly 
were  never  private  In  whal  nature  u  ashamed  of,  either  for  the 

n  or  any  man  lo  see.     It  is  some  refreshing  to  think  that  there 


I 


k 


» 


4S4  THE   CLEAR   SFNSHIKE   OF  THE    G03P£I. 

is  (if  there  was  no  more)  but  the  name  of  Christ  aoandiDg  in 
those  dark  and  despicable  Tartarian  tenia  The  Lord  ata  boild 
them  houses  in  time  to  pray  in,  when  be  bnlb  given  unio  tbm 
better  hearts,  and  wben,  perhaps,  be  lialh  curs^  and  cuusumed 
theirs  who  bare  disdained  to  give  tbuL  worship  ftud  homage  to 
Christ  in  their  sealed  houses,  which  pour  Indians  rtjuice  logire 
to  him  in  ibeir  poor  tents  an<)  wigwams.  1  desire  j'ou  to  gntber 
what  stock  of  prajcrs  jou  ciin  for  them.  1  had  almoiit  (ijrgM 
to  leli  you  of  Mr.  Jabot's  ^ing  up  the  country  lately  with  Mr. 
Flint,  Captain  Willard,  of  Concord,  and  sundry  others,  towanl 
Murrimiitb  River,  unto  that  Indian  eaL-hem  Pitssauonnaway,  that 
old  wilcli  and  powwow,  who,  together  with  both  his  sons,  6ed 
ihe  presence  of  the  light,  and  durst  not  stand  their  ground,  nor 
be  at  home  when  be  came,  pretending  fear  of  being  killed  by  a 
man  forsooth  that  came  only  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  and  with  a 
few  otbers  without  any  weapons,  only  to  bear  him  eoiapany  and 
direct  bis  way  in  those  deserts.  But  in  it  you  may  see  the  guilt 
of  Ihe  man,  and  that  Satan  is  but  a  coward  in  his  lion's  skin 
even  upon  bis  own  dunghill,  as  also  the  hatred  and  entnily 
against  the  word  which  is  in  some,  which  argues  iliat  the  atten- 
tion which  others  give  to  it  is  a  power  of  God,  and  not  merely  (c 
flatter  and  get  favor  with  the  English.  But  the  rest  of  P&ssa- 
connaway's  men  attended  to  the  things  which  were  spoken,  and 
asked  diversijuestions,  the  Indians  in  our  parts  accompanying  Mr. 
Eliot,  and  giving  hlc«sed  exBrnples  to  the  otbers  herein,  w  also 
in  saying  grace  before  and  after  meat,  praying  in  their  wigwama 
with  them,  and  some  of  them  singing  of  psalms,  which  tbey  have 
learned  from  the  English ;  discoursing  also  with  them  about  the 
things  of  God.  It  is  somewhat  observable,  (though  the  obser- 
vation be  more  cheerful  than  deep,)  that  the  first  text  out  of 
which  Mr.  Eliot  preached  to  the  Indians  was  about  the.  dry 
bonvB,  (Ezek.  xxxvii.,)  where  it  is  said  that  by  prophesying  to 
the  wind,  the  wind  came,  and  the  dry  bones  lived.  Mow,  the  In~ 
dian  word  for  wind  is  teaubon,  and  the  moat  active  Indian  for 
stirring  up  other  Indians  to  seek  after  the  knowledge  of  God  ia 
these  parts,  hie  name  is  Waubon,  which  signifies  wind,  (the  In- 
dians giving  names  to  their  children  usually  according  to  appear* 
ances  of  providences,)  although  they  never  dream  of  this,  that 
this  their  Waubon  should  breathe  such  a  spirit  of  life  and  en- 
couragement into  the  rest  of  the  Indians,  as  he  bath  endeavored 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  both  at  Concord,  Merimack,  and  else- 
where. But  some  of  the  Indians  themselves,  that  were  stirred 
up  by  him,  took  notice  of  this  bis  name  and  that  scriptura 
together,  and  the  Knglish  also  have  much  oliserveih  him  herein. 


BBEt.KlNG   FOBTB   Ll'OS   THE   INDIANa.  485 

wbo  slill  continues  the  fiAme  tnnn,  althougb  we  think  there  be 
now  many  others,  whom  he  first  breathed  cncourHgcnient  into, 
thitt  Ao  far  exceed  him  in  the  light  and  life  of  the  things  of  God; 
Mr.  Eliot  also  professing  that  he  eho^e  that  text  without  the  least 
thought  of  any  Bueh  application  in  respect  of  Waubon. 

There  hiive  be«n  ronnj  diflicult  quesiioua  propounded  b^  ibeni, 
which  we  have  been  unwilling  to  engage  ourselves  in  any  nnswer 
uulo,  nniil  we  have  the  concurrence  of  others  with  us. 

1.  Supjiose  a  roan,  before  be  knew  God,  hath  hod  two  wives, 
the  lir»t  barren  and  childless,  the  second  fruitful  and  bearing  him 
man^  sweet  children  ;  the  question  now  propounded  was,  which 
of  these  two  wiTca  he  is  to  put  awajr.  If  he  put  away  the  first, 
wbo  bath  no  children,  tlicn  he  puts  nwaj  her  whom  God 
and  religion  undoubtedly  bind  hiiu  unlo,  there  being  no  other 
defect  but  Want  of  children.  If  he  put  away  the  other,  then  he 
■oust  ea.<t  off  all  bis  children,  with  her  alM,  as  iUegilimale,  whom 
he  so  esccediugly  loves.  This  is  a  case  now  among  them,  and 
they  ore  very  fearful  to  do  any  thing  cross  to  God's  will  and 
mind  herein. 

2.  Suppose  n  man  marry  a  squaw,  and  she  deserts  and  flies 
from  her  husband,  and  commits  adultery  with  other  remote 
Indians,  but  aAerwarda  it  come  to  pass  thai  she  hearing  the 
word,  and  Mirry  for  what  she  hath  done,  she  desires  to  come  lo 
her  husband  ag^n,  wiio  remains  utill  unmarried ;  whetbor  Ihia 
husband,  upon  her  repentance,  receive  her  again ;  and  whether  ia 
he  not  bound  thereunto  so  to  do  ? 

At  the  last  lecture  at  Noononelum  this  September,  there  were 
divers  questions  a^ked.  One  was  propounded  by  on  old  squaw, 
a  widow,  vii. :  If,  when  men  know  God,  God  loves  them,  whjr 
then  is  it  thnt  an;  are  ailUeted  after  tliut  they  know  God  P 

I  shall  meulion  no  more,  but  conclude  with  the  solemn  speech 
of  a  sober  and  hopeful  Indian  at  this  leelure,  whone  name  is 
Wampooas,  who,  instead  of  propounding  a  question,  fell  into  these 
expressions,  vii. :  "  ibut  because  we  prny  to  Goil,  other  Indians 
abroad  in  the  ctnintry  hale  us  and  oppose  us ;  the  Knglish,  on 
the  other  side,  suspect  us.  and  fear  us  to  he  »lill  such  as  do  not  pray 
at  all ;  but  (saiib  he)  God,  who  knows  all  ibiiigf,  he  knows  that  we 
do  pray  to  him."  To  which  speech  Mr.  Ehol  replied,  that  it 
was  true  indeed  that  some  of  the  English  did  so  far  suspect 
tlii^m  for  sundry  reasons.  Hut  I  do  not  so,  and  others  of  us, 
who  know  you  and  speak  with  yon,  we  do  not  so  think  of  you ; 
and  then  gave  ibem  gracious  and  serious  encouragements  to  go 
forward  and  make  more  progress  in  the  things  of  God.  This 
their  own  testimony  of  themselves,  being  propounded  with  much 


f  TUE    GOSFIHL 


.s  of  affectkm,  may  be  llie  last,  aJiLoDgb 


i  work   among  tiicn  ; 


I 


I 


it  be  ibc  leasl  conSmuUioD  of  some  inward  v 
which  I  looked  upon  a»  a  special  proTid^nce  that  sucfi  a  5pc«ch 
■buald  be  spoken  and  come  to  nty  ears  just  at  such  a  tiiui;  u 
this,  wherein  I  was  finishing  the  story,  lo  coDfirm,  in  some 
measure',  what  faath  been  written ;  the  Lord  himself,  I  believe^ 
and  no  man  living,  putting  these  words  into  their  own  hearts,  to 
give  this  modest  lesttmony  coticeming  ihemfielves.  The  begin- 
ning of  this  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom  should  enlarge  our 
hearts  with  great  joy.  If  I  should  gather  and  turn  up  together  the 
Bevenit  gracious  impressions  of  God  upon  them,  fram  what  bath 
been  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  story,  1  iliiiik  it  might  make 
many  Christians  ashamed,  who  may  easily  see  how  fur  lliej'  ore 
exceeded  by  these  naked  men  in  so  short  a  lime,  thus  wrooghl 
npon  by  such  sraall  and  despicable  means ;  toy  brother  Khol, 
who  is  preacher  lo  them,  professing  he  can  as  yet  but  stammer 
out  some  pieces  of  the  woid  of  God  liiilo  ihein  in  their  own 
tongue,  liui  (!ud  is  wilh  him,  and  God  is  wont  lo  be  mon'miw 
in   minimii,  and  is  most  seen  iu  doing  great  things  by  snuUl 

The  sword  of  God's  word  shall  and  will  pierce  deep,  eveti 
when  it  ia  half  broken,  when  the  hand  of  a  mighty  Bedcem» 
hath  the  laying  of  it  on.  And  the  Scripture  herein  is  and  miwt 
be  fulfilled,  that  as  «ooii  as  the  heathen  hear  Christ  they  shall  sub- 
mit. (Ps.  xviii.  43,  41.)  And  such  nations  whom  Christ  knew 
not  shall  run  unto  htm.  (Is.  Iv.  3.)  The  fall  of  the  unbelieving 
Jews  was  the  rising  of  tlie  Gentiles.  My  prayer  to  God,  there- 
fore, fur  Euro|>e  is,  that  the  fall  of  the  churches  (little  bettered 
by  the  devouring  sword  whiuli  is  still  thirsty)  may  not  be  the 
rising  of  these  American  Geutilee,  never  pitied  till  now.  I  wish 
that  Alstedius's  prophecy  herein  may  not  prove  true ;  but  rather* 
that  the  rising  of  these  may  be  a  provoking  and  raising  up  of 
tliem,  especially  of  the  English,  to  lament  aHer  thai  God  whom 
ihey  liHve  forsaken,  and  tu' lament  after  him,  together  with  us, 
for  those  poor  Indians  who  never  yet  knew  him. 

Sir,  I  had  ended  lliese  relations  once  or  twice;  but  the  stay 
of  the  vessel  iucreaseth  n«>w  matter,  which  because  it  is  new 
and  fresh,  you  shall  have  it  as  I  heard  of  it  from  a  foitliful  hand. 
There  vi^rc  sundry  questions  propounded  at  the  Indian  leeture 
at  Noonanelum,  this  October  13,  by  the  Indians.  The  first  waa 
propounded  to  Mr.  Eliot  himself,  upon  occasion  of  his  sermon 
out  of  Eph.  V.  1 1,  "  Have  no  fellowship  wilh  the  unfruitful  works 
of  darkness,"  viz.,  "  WhuC  Englishmen  did  think  of  Mr.  Eliot 
because  he  cume  among  wicked  Indians  to  teach  tlmmi"' 


i^Hkd 


BSIIKIKQ   FORTS  UPOK  THE   INDIANS. 


Secondly.  "  Suppose  two  men  sin ;  ihc  one  knows  he  sinneth, 
and  ihe  oilier  doth  not  know  ain ;  will  God  punish  bolh  nlike  ?  " 

Thirdly.  "Suppose  (here  should  be  one  wise  Indian  that 
teacheth  good  things  lo  other  Indians,  whether  [he]  should  not 
be  as  a  lather  or  brother  unto  euch  Indians  he  so  teacheth  in  ' 
the  ways  of  God."  This  last  ijuestion  seems  to  argue  some 
notions  stirring  in  sonie  of  tlieir  hearts  to  pity  and  teacli  their 
poor  countrymen.  And  surely  then  will  be  the  tao'tt  hopeful 
time  of  doing  good  among  them,  when  the  Lord  sliall  raise  up 
some  or  other  like  themselves  lo  go  amonf;  them  and  preach  the 
word  of  life  unto  them  witli  fatherly  or  brotherly  bowels ;  nod  yet 
I  limit  not  the  Uost  High,  who  can  make  use  of  what  instruments 
he  plesseth  for  this  work.  I  shall  conclude,  therefore,  with  ■ 
Blory  I  had,  bolh  by  writing  and  word  of  raoiith,  from  a  faithful 
man,  (Mr.  Edward  Jackson,)  which  he  saw  with  his  own  eyes 
this  Oetoher  7. 

There  was  one  of  ihe  Indians  at  Noooanetum  hath  had  a  sick 
child  of  a  consumption  many  a  day,  and  at  thut  time  died  of  iL 
When  it  was  dend,  some  of  the  Indians  cnme  to  mi  honest  man 
to  inquire  how  they  should  bury  their  dead.  The  man  told  them 
how  and  what  the  English  did  when  they  buried  theirs.  Here* 
upon  rejecting  aU  their  old  superstitious  observances  at  such  sad 
limcH,  (which  are  not  a  few,)  tliey  presently  procured  a  few  boards, 
and  buugfit  a  few  nails  of  the  English,  and  so  mode  a  pr«tty  band- 
some  coltin,  (for  ibey  are  very  dexterous  at  any  thing  Ihey  see 
once  done,)  and  put  the  child  into  it,  and  so  accompanied  it  to 
the  grave  very  solemnly,  about  forty  Indians  of  them.  When  the 
earth  was  cast  upon  it,  and  the  grave  made  up,  they  withdrew  a 
little  from  thift  place,  and  went  all  together,  aud  assembled  under 
4  tree  in  the  woods,  and  there  (hey  desired  one  Tutaswampe,  a 
very  hopeful  Indian,  lo  pray  with  them.  Now,  although  the 
English  do  not  usually  meet  in  companies  lo  pray  together  after 
such  sad  occasions,  yet  it  seems  God  stirred  up  their  hearts  thus 
to  do.  What  the  substance  of  their  prayer  was,  1  can  not  cer- 
ininly  learn,  although  I  have  heard  something  that  way,  which 
1  therctbre  name  not,  only  I  have  and  shall  endeavor  to  get  it, 
if  it  be  possible  for  the  poor  Indian  to  express  the  substance 
of  it,  and  so  «luill  send  it  if  the  ship  stays  long.  Only  this  is 
certain,  by  him  who  was  occasionally  an  eye  and  ear  witness  of 
these  things,  that  they  euulinued  instant  with  God  in  prayer  for 
almost  hall'  an  liour  together,  and  iliis  godly  man's  words  lu  me 
(who  understimds  a  little  of  their  language)  are  these  :  that  this 
Tutaswam)>c  did  express  such  zcaI  in  prayer,  with  such  variety 
>f  gracious  expressions,  and  abundance  of  tears,  both  of  hinueu 


THE    CLF.AB   SUNSHISE   OP   THE   GOSPKL 

f  the  company,  thai  the  woods  rung  agnin  with  their 


eighs  and  prayers.     And,  stulh  hn,  I  v 


ecir  «nd  j 


ich  ashamed  of  a 


others,  ibftt  have  had  bo  great  light,  and  \ 


X  such  affeclioD  as  they  have,  who  have 


gootl  distance  alone 


I 


edge.     All  this  be  saw  fitandiog  » 
from  them  under  a  tree. 

Thus  you  iiee,  sir,  that  thc^e  old  obdurute  s 
altogether  senseless  of  God's  ofltic^ting  hand  and  humbling  prov- 
idences. And  though  natural  aHeetion  may  be  much  slJriicd  ia 
euch  tindes,  yet  you  see  how  Gkid  bcgitts  to  sanctify  such  affec> 
tions  among  them ;  and  I  wish  that  many  English  were  not  oot- 
Btrippcd  herein  hy  these  poor  Indians,  who  have  got  the  start.  I 
fear,  of  many  English,  that  L-an  puss  by  such  sad  providenoes  with- 
out laying  them  in  this  mnnner  to  heart.  I  confess  these  and 
many  such  things  wbieb  we  see  in  divers  of  them  do  make  goiim 
to  think  that  there  is  more  of  God  and  his  Spirit  in  some  of  their  | 
hearts  than  we  yet  can  discover,  and  which  they  hope  will  break 

Thus  you  have  a  true,  hut  somewhat  rent  and  n^ged  relation 
of  these  things;  it  may  be  most  suitable  to  the  story  of  naked 
and  ragged  men.  My  desire  is,  that  no  man's  spectaeles  may  de- 
ceive him,  so  as  to  look  upon  these  things  either  as  bigger  or  less, 
better  or  worse,  than  they  are,  which  all  men  generally  are  apt 
to  do  at  things  at  so  great  distance  ;  but  that  they  may  Judge  of 
them  as  indeed  they  are,  by  what  truth  they  se«  here  expretoed  ' 
in  the  things  themselves.  1  know  that  some  think  that  all  this  work 
among  them  ia  dune  and  acted  thus  by  the  Indians  to  please  the 
Kiigliah,  and  for  applause  from  them  ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  bat 
so  it  is  in  many,  who  do  not  blaze  fur  a  time ;  burcerlaiuly  it  is 
not  so  in  all ;  but  that  the  power  of  the  word  hath  taken  place 
in  «ome,  and  that  inwardly  and  effectually,  but  how  for  savingly, 
time  will  declare,  anil  the  reader  may  judge  of  by  the  story  itself 
of  these  things.  Some  say  that  if  it  he  so,  yet  they  are  but  a 
few  that  are  thus  wrought  upon.  Be  it  so  ;  yet  so  it  hath  ever 
been  —  tmmy  ealltd,  few  ehoMen.  And  yet,  withal,  I  believe  the 
calling  in  of  a  few  Indians  to  Chritit  is  the  gathering  home  of  many 
hundreds  in  one,  considering  what  a  vast  distance  there  hath  been 
between  God  and  them  so  long,  even  days  without  number; 
considering  also  how  precious  the  first  fruits  of  America  will  be  to 
Jesus  Christ,  and  what  seeds  they  may  be  of  great  harvests  in 
after  times.  And  yet,  if  there  was  no  great  matter  seen  in  those 
□f  grown  years,  their  chihlrcn,  notwithstanding,  are  of  great 
hopes,  bull)  from  the  English  and  Indians  themselves,  who  are 
therefore  trained  to  school,  where  many  are  very  apt  lo  learn, 


BREAKINO   yOBTH  CTOS  THE 

.re  also  able  readily  to  ansirer  flie  questions  propound- 
ing lUe  principles  and  grounds  of  aJI  Christian  religion, 
in  their  own  tongue.  I  confess  it  pa^seth  ray  skill  to  tell  how  the 
gosj-el  should  be  generally  received  by  these  American  natives, 
considering  the  variety  of  languages  in  small  distances  of  phices. 
Only  lie  that  made  their  ears  and  longuea  can  raise  up  some  or 
other  lo  teach  them  how  to  bear,  and  what  to  speak.  And  if  the 
gospel  must  ride  circuit,  Christ  can  and  will  conquer  by  weak  and 
'icspicAble  means,  though  the  conquest,  perhaps,  may  be  somewhat 
long. 

The  beginning  and  foundation  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  soulhem 
parts  of  this  vast  continent,  being  laid  in  the  blood  of  nine[«ea 
raillioua  of  poor  innocent  natives,  (as  Acosta  the  Jesuit,  a  bird  of 
their  own  nest,  relates  the  story,)  shall  certaiuly  therefore  bo 
utterly  rooted  up  by  some  revenging  hand ;  and  when  he  is  once 
dispossessed  of  his  golden  mansions  and  silver  mines,  it  may  be 
then  the  oppressed  remnant  in  those  coasts  also  may  come  in.  In 
the  mean  while,  if  it  be  the  good  pleasure  of  Christ  to  look  upon 
any  of  the  worst  and  meanest  of  those  outcasts  in  these  coasts 
of  New  England,  let  US  not  despise  this  day  of  small  things,  but 
as  the  Jews  did  of  old,  so  let  us  now  cry  mightily  to  God,  and 
say  and  sing,  "  Let  the  people  praise  Ihce,  O  God,  yea,  let  all 
the  people  praise  thee :  then  shall  the  earth  bring  forth  her  in- 
crease, and  God,  even  our  God,  shall  bless  us." 

I  have  sent  you  two  witnesses,  beside  my  own,  of  the  truth  of 
the  Indian  story  printed  ;  you  tnay  publish  them  if  you  please, 
as  Ihey  tmve  wrote  and  subscribed  with  their  own  hands. 

Tmohi.8  Shepabd. 


THE 


CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP  OF  CHILDREN, 


AXD  THStB 


RIGHT  TO  BAPTISM, 


▲CCORDCfO  TO 


THAT  HOLY  AND  EVERLASTING  COVENANT  OF  GOD,  ESTABU8HEO  BETWEDI 

HIMSELF   AND   THE    FAITITFUL,   AND  THEIR  8EBD   AFTER 

THEM,  IN  THEIR  GENERATIONS! 


CLEARED  UP   IN  A  LETTER, 


•■NT  UNTO  A   WORTRT  PRIBND  OF  TUB  AUTHOR,  AND  MANY 
AGO  WRITTBN  TOUCHINO  THAT  SUBJBCT. 


rOILItllBD  AT  TNB  B  iRKClT  KKQI'BIT  09  MAKT,  roB  THB  COfftOLATlOB  AMV  BBCOVmAOBMBIIT 

BOTH  or  rABBNTl  ABD  CnitDBBB  IB  TRB  LOBO. 


■*  And  1  win  ettablUh  mj  e<nren«il  bttwwn  me  and  tlM«,  and  tlif  w«l  all«r  IImb, 
In  tbrir  flvBCfmttttfit,  fur  an  mrrtiuting  eovvnant,  to  be  a  Oud  nnto  Iha*.  and  to  tkj 
ncd  aftor  thM."  -  Obb.  ztU.  7. 

*■  For  th«  prrmiiar  U  onto  yon,  and  to  jtmr  chndrra,  and  to  all  UmiI  an  alkr  9^ 
•vnn  at  manj  at  the  l^ord  o«r  God  ahall  ealL"—  AcTi  IL  91 

*  Elaa  w«fB  Jtmr  chUdran  nnolean,  bat  nov  are  thay  lioly.**— 1  Cob.  tV.  14 


491 


ClIEliittTitis,  thit  cminenl  light  in  the  church  of  God,  in  thoso  elsbonte 
works  of  his  ngniDiC  the  Papists,  (Exam,  pan  ii.  can.  14,  de  Bapliiino.)  balb 
Ihji  momorablc  Mjing,  vii. ;  — 

"  It  is  not  to  be  left  fres  10  the  choice  of  thorn  who  have  been  baptiied  in 
infancy,  when  Che;  como  lo  bo  adult,  whether  or  no  the;  will  hmre  that  con- 
finned  which  woa  doDO  in  their  bnptism  ;  as  ihongh  iho  covenant  of  grace, 
and  teslamenl  of  peace,  which  is  ufered  and  seatcil  up  to  little  children  m 
baptism,  should  then  Rrst  begin  to  be  established,  when  the  conaent  of  cfadr 
will,  when  adult,  is  added  thereunto ;  for  from  (his  wicked  foandatian  Iha 
AnabaptisCa  eimplj  hare  taken  away  and  condemned  Piedobaptism  j  bat 
fuch  buptiicd  little  ones  arc  lo  be  admonished,  aa  they  grow  up,  what  ■ 
covenant  of  grace  and  tCBlament  of  peace  it  is,  which  God  hacli  entered  into 
with  them  in  baptiani,  and  by  what  promise  of  giatilude  thi-y  have  Ijkewiw 
obliged  [hcmsBWes  unto  obedience  lo  God  with  the  renouncing  of  the  deril 
And  they  are  leriously  lo  be  exhorted  that  ihoy  render  thanks  to  God  (ai 
that  wonderful  (jteat  benefit,  that  they  abide  in  that  covxinant  of  pea<»,  and 
endeavor  to  fulfill  that  ohlignlion,  by  mortifying  sin,  and  setting  npon  new- 
ness of  life,  and  that  they  do  (his  freely  and  sincerely;  or  if  thej  dull, 
through  unthankfalness,  depart  from  (hat  covenant  and  engageiaBut>  that 
then  (bey  repent,  and  rctam  to  (he  covenant,  and  subject  thcmsclvea  again 
to  that  stipulated  obedience.  But  as  for  (hem  that  ehati  do  otiierwise,  the 
most  severe  comminalions  of  the  wralb  and  indigna^on  of  God  ore  to  bo 
heaped  up  and  set  before  them,  unto  which  (enith  he)  excomniuiiication  il 
to  be  nddcd,  for  these  ore  the  weapons  of  our  warfare."  {i  Cor.  x.) 
492 


PREFACE 


TO      THE      It  K  A  D  E  R  . 


Chkistian  Reader:  Might  I  have  had  miue  own  choice 
Bni]  (lesirea  gruDtetl,  some  olher  should  have  perfonned  the 
task  of  a  preface  to  the  following  irealue  of  my  precious  and 
m II fh -honored  father ;  but  being  put  upon  it  by  divers  wor- 
thy friends,  whom  I  knew  not  how  to  deny,  1  sliall  therefore 
Immbly  premise  a  word  or  two,  tn  lenderncsi  to  the  truth, 
and  out  of  unleigned  love  to  those  especially  of  Christ's  poor 
sheep  {however  fcebte  or  diseased)  that  either  have  been  or 
may  be  in  danger  of  going  astray  from  so  great  a  truth  as  ia 
the:  subject  of  the  ensuing  discourse ;  being  sincerely  desirous 
that  ihcy  may  be  restored,  and  from  thenco  returned  unto  the 
Shepherd  and  Qishop  of  our  souls,  and  may  in  nothing  be  made 
a  prey  to  him  who  is  our  great  adversary,  the  devil,  who  walketh 
about,  "  seeking  whom  he  may  devour."  For  we  shoukl  not  be 
ignorant  of  his  devices. 

Tbc  enmity  put  by  the  Lord  between  the  seed  of  the  woman 
and  the  seed  of  the  serpent  (Gen.  iii.  15)  soon  began  to  work, 
even  in  tlie  infancy  of  the  church,  in  the  family  of  our  fir»t 
|Mircnld,  OS  we  sec  (Gen.  iv.  8)  by  llie  martyrdom  of  right- 
eous Abel.  No  small  portion  of  that  Hxed  hatred  and  hoatility 
of  the  old  serpent  hath  ever  since  been  discovered  against  the 
young  ones  of  Christ's  little  flock.  The  multiplication  of  the 
children  of  Israel  is  the  occasion  why  Pharaoh  deals  so  wisely 
as  we  read:  endeavoring  first,  by  the  midwivcs,  secretly  to 
destroy  llie  nialc  children ;  and  after  that,  mure  openly  by  an 


42 


4U3 


494 


rKEFACK    TO   THK    IIl!:A.DKI 


vdii-t,  lo  drown  iherD  in  his  Egyptian  wsters ;  for  wlkidi  w 
over  hb  pretense  might  be,  alleged  Kx.  i.  lU,  jet  no  doobi  (id 
Calvin,  on  llie  place,  sotnciv hat  that  waj  hints)  Satan  had(. 
design  therein  to  cut  off  tlie  name  and  posteritj  of  Abrahi%fl 
(who  \i  the  father  of  all  them  that  bclieTe,  even  of  u 
father  of  many  nations,"  Rom.  iv.  11,  16,  17.)  and  so 
and  annihilate  the  promise  of  God,  even  Ibat  great  pramiM 
hia  everlasting  covenant,  to  he  a  God  to  him,  and  to  I 
forever,  in  iheir  generations.  Ilence  also  afierward  wc  i 
this  epile  of  the  great  accuser  of  the  brethren  vented  s 
these  poor  little  ones,  in  the  forbidding  them  coiumunion  «ilh 
Uie  ehurch  of  God  in  tliat  worship  which  God  Iiad  instituted,  and 
which  he  had  commanded  his  peoplu  by  the  hand  of  Mo^ea  and 
Aaron  to  observe  i  (Ex.  x.  3,)  "  Let  my  people  go,"  that  "tbsy 
may  serve  me,"  saitb  the  Lord  ;  but  hanl-liearted  Pharaoh  swma 
lo  scruple  wlietlier  the  young  children  are  a  part  of  the  Lord's 
people,  as  appears  by  his  iiueslion,  (ver,  8,)  "  But  who  are  ihrj 
tliHt  shall  go?"  Moses  pk-ada  for  Ihc  young  as  well  as  tie 
old  i  for  the  sons  and  the  daughters ;  (ver.  0  ;)  but  Pharaoh  is 
of  another  apprehension  and  resolution,  (ver.  10,  IZ  ;)  he  will  let 
the  men  go  and  serve  the  Lord,  hut  not  the  little  ones.  Again: 
Humnn,  the  Agagite,  we  lind,  is  not  satisfied  with  the  destnictim 
of  the  old  generation  of  the  Jews,  but  the  little  children  of  Clw 
church  nlso  are  expressly  mentioned,  and  designed  to  the  sanu 
condemnation  and  ma^ai?re  with  their  fathers.  (Est.  iii.  13.) 

And  much  mure  of  the  like  nature  might  be  alleged  out  of 
many  records,  both  ecelesiasticnl  and  other,  were  it  needfiil ;  the 
salanical  delusions  of  those  heretical  Calnphrygians  and  Pepu- 
cians  of  old,  who  were  wont  lo  mingle  the  Eucharist  with  tb«  ■ 
blood  of  an  infant  of  a  year  old,  (of  whom  Austin  speaks,  tot 
vi.  -De  ffrereiibui  ad  Quodviiltdeum,)  are  not  unknown.    Not  hei 
lo  insist  on  that  instance  of  Herod's  infanticide,  (Matt.  ii.  IG,  I' 
we  need  not  so  much  wonder  at  nazHel's  cruelty  agiunst  I 
children  of  Israel,  in  slaying  their  young  men  with  the  aw 
and  dashing  their  cUiliiien,  and  ri]iping  up  their  women  i 
child,  (2  Kings  viii.  ]2,)  seeing  Sninn  hath  mimy  times  prevail) 


PBEFACE  T<^  THE  BEADEB.  495 

with  those  who  were  church  metnlicrs,  and  of  long  slamlfng  in 
the  house  of  God,  even  the  purcnis  iliemsclvcs,  to  murder  and 
■ficrifice  their  infanls  and  little  one^  which  were  the  Lord's 
cliiidren,  and  bora  unto  the  Lord.  (Ezek.  ivi.  20,  21,  elc.)  Such 
lui  cvt]  eje  doth  that  greut  adversurj  of  our  comfort  and  bhIva- 
tion  (seeing  himself  shut  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven)  bear 
agiiinsl  these  little  ones,  whom  Christ  hath  taken  in  to  himself, 
and  concerning  whom  our  Saviour  professelb,  that  "  of  such  is 
the  kingdom  of  God."  (Luke  xviii.  IG.)  So  doth  he  enrjr  to 
see  them  in  the  arms  of  Christ,  and  blessed  by  him,  and  to  havo 
tmy  room  in  bis  bou»c,  or  so  much  as  on  external,  visible  inter- 
est in  the  covenant,  with  the  initiatory  seal  and  livery  thereof- 
Baptism  being  the  seal  to  all  Christianity,  it  is  Satan's  policy, 
therefore,  to  strike  at  that,  that  in  cashiering  it,  he  may  hare 
at  all.  Hereunto  tends  his  dealing  with  witches  many  times, 
(of  which  divers  huvu  spoken,)  in  causing  them,  when  they 
become  first  his  proselytes,  solemnly  to  renounce  the  Trinity, 
(into  the  name  of  which  they  have  been  baptized,)  cs{>eGially 
their  salvation  by  Christ ;  and  saith  Cooper,  in  his  book  cnUtlod 
The  Mystery  of  Witchcraft  discovered,  cap.  vi.  sec  91,  p.  1,  in 
token  thereof  to  di^laim  their  baptism. 

An  ill  office  and  work  then  surety  are  they  employed  in, 
whose  way  and  endeavors  shall  center  in  the  accomplishing  of 
that  which  Satan  hath  been  so  busily,  and  with  such  malignity,  for 
so  many  ages  undertaking ;  and  no  great  thanks  will  nuch  reccivu 
for  that  labor  from  the  Lord  Jesus  another  day.  If  Christ  was 
so  much  displeased  that  his  disciples  rebuked  those  who  brought 
tlieir  children  to  liim,  (Mark.  x.  14,)  and  if  the  apostle  Peter 
received  so  severe  a  chvck  as  we  read,  [ALttl.  xvi.  22,  23.)  for 
speaking  tliat  wliicb  had  ii  tendency  to  lake  the  Lord  Jesus  off 
from  bying  down  the  price  of  redumption,  how  much  more  then 
will  be  be  now  displeased  if  (after  such  rebuke  and  warning 
given)  any  shall  attempt  to  keep  from  him,  and  di-prive  him  of 
his  redeemed,  whom  he  hath  purchased  by  so  dear  a  price  I  so 
many,  I  mean,  of  bis  purchased  ones  as  the  number  of  the  in- 
iknts  and  children  of  believers  (dead,  and  alive,  and  to  be  born) 


i. 


«96 


TO   THE  ItRADEH. 


■ffliy 


I 
I 


:  not  Lielieve  lltal  an  etceei 
gnwl  mullilude  ti(  LLe  sbeep  that  shall  be  seen  etanding  at  tbe 
rigbt  hand  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  lite  daj  of  judgment,  shall  be  ■ 
compahj  of  these  lambs  ?  As  (o  withhold  from  Ctirisl  so  great 
'a  part  of  big  purchase  (the  labor  of  tbe  Anabapti^)  must  needt 
be  no  other  than  highly  anti-Cbc^tian,  ao  to  mnke  good  and 
recover  the  iuicrest  of  Christ  in  such,  and  the  glory  which  he 
obtains  by  them,  aecording  to  the  enlarged  grant  of  the  charter 
of  his  Nevr  Tcstrnnent,  (the  scope  and  work  of  these  few  sheets.) 
is  a  service  pleasing  unto  Ctirist,  who  out  of  the  mouths  of  lhe«e 
babes  and  sucklings,  even,  pcrfecielh  praliie,  (UntL  xxi.  15,  10.) 
and  so,  1  trust,  will  be  aeceptabk  1o  bis  people,  who.  whenas  tbey 
must  go  down  lo  the  dust,  ttnd  can  not  keep  alive  their  own  sools, 
jGl  may  behold  their  seed  succeeding  iheni  in  the  Ber%-ice  and 
worship  of  God,  being  accounted  to  the  Lord  for  a  generation, 
(Pe.  xxii.  2S-31,)  —  vide  Rivet  in  loeam,  —  schism atically  lo 
Kfuse  to  hold  ecclesiastical  communion  with  so  great  a  part  of 
the  church  of  Christ  as  the  children  of  believers  are.  (in  many 
places  the  major  pnrC  thereof,)  is  a  rigid  and  siniul  separa^on, 
and  gratifying  the  design  of  the  Papists,  (the  greatest  SeparatisU 
in  tlie  world,)  as  by  and  by  may  Iw  further  seen. 

And  indeed  ilie  Lord  (avenging  the  quarrel  of  his  covenant, 
wherein  he  hath  always  been  exceeding  jealous)  hsih  manifested 
not  a  little  of  his  ungcr  and  displeasure  against  iboee  who  have 
troubled  tliese  baptismal  waters  of  the  sanctuary.  The  awful 
and  tremendous  passages  of  Providence  recorded  in  several  his- 
tories, concerning  ttia  original  and  progress  of  Anabaptisni,  and 
relating  to  God's  strange,  judicial  hand  agtunst  so  many  of  ibem 
that  have  been  throughpaccd  therein,  in  delivering  them  up 
to  spiritual  judgments  to  believe  lies,  and  lo  fall,  step  bj  Btep, 
into  almoet  all  sorts  of  heresies,  and  to  the  coramisBioo  of  tba 
most  abhorred  impieties,  and  loathsome  wickednesses,  and  out- 
rages against  the  commands  both  of  the  first  and  second  table, 
(as  Luther,  BuUiiiger,  Culvin,  Beza,  and  others  generally  and 
and  ubuiidauily  testify.)  they  are  very  observable,  and  not  to  be 
passed  over  slightly  ;  and  may  make  every  honest  and  serious 


PBIiF-ACE    TO    TBE    READER.  49? 

heiirt  to  tremble  whenever  be  fintld  himself  inclining  to  that 
path ;  to  this  purpose,  and  concerning  Anabnpti^m  in  this  our 
itge,  (beside  oianj  other  authors  I  might  cite,)  rend  only  Itnx- 
ter's  Plain  Scripture  Proof  of  Infnnts'  Church  Membership, 
pp.  13!t-ld2.  And  ns  in  the  dawning  of  the  reformation,  I 
begun  hy  those  worthies  of  Christ  in  the  last  century,  Anabup- 
tism  seems  lo  be  the  Trojan  horse  whereby  so  great  confusion 
did  befall  that  Israel,  and  was  sueh  a  Remora  to  that  glorious 
'  work  then  begun  in  Germany,  luid  other  Deighboring  countries, 
so  now,  in  the  further  progress  of  thnt  reformation  here  in  Ihi« 
our  Israel,' should  Anabnptiam  likewise  (especially  accompanied 
with  Donatism,  its  wonted  concubine)  bnxid  and  become  the 
instrument  or  medium  of  our  miseries  and  confusions,  possibljr 
then  experience  (a  slow,  but  muny  times  a  sure  and  severe  in- 
structor) may  help  some  at  length  to  see  farther  into  the  mys- 
tery of  this  iniiiuily  than  now  they  do.  For  in  truth  it  is  not  J 
improbable  that  the  man  of  sin,  seeing  he  could  not  o|>cnly  and 
at  once  ruin  the  reformed  churches  in  the  duys  of  those  famous 
■ervants  of  Christ  before  expressed,  did  Hiicmpt  secretly  and 
gradually  to  do  it  this  way,  viz.,  by  first  sending  forth  his  emis- 
saries among  the  churcbeis  who  might  fill  them  wiih  the  smoke 
of  Anabaptism,  that  so  he  might  the  more  securely  pass  to  and 
fro,  being  undisccmed  in  such  a  fog ;  whence  what  mischief  was 
wrought,  and  Affhat  a  hinderonce  those  turbulent  Annbnplls(«l 
were  to  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  in  iluit  ag<!,  (for  that  was' 
the  first  time  of  their  swarming,  as  the  most  judicious  hare  ob> 
serced,)  by  vilifying,  reproaehing,  and  decrying  the  ministry ; 
crying  up  themselves  as  the  most  go<1ly,  spiritual,  and  perfect ; 
judging  the  Old  Testament  to  be  but  as  an  almanac  out  of  date  ; 
denying  Scripture  consequences,  giving  false  interprclations  of 
Scripture,  especially  by  allegories  wresting  the  samu  to  their  own 
destruction ;  making  and  fomenting  sehisms  and  fiu^tions  in  the 
churches;  denying  the  magistrates'  coercive' power  in  matters  of 
religion ;  making  their  own  fanatic  ijiirit  the  supreme  judge  unto 
all  kind  of  disorder,  etc.,  —  the  writings  of  the  godly  learned  in  . 
tliose  times  do  abundantly,  even  lo  anutzement,  inform  us.  And  I 
42.  ' 


b 


I 


4S&  TKEFACE   TO    THi;    READER. 

indeed  the  great  consent  nnd  harmony  between  the  main  leneu 
of  tbe  AnabaplUi^  and  Papiaia  in  lliis  point  give  not  a  link 
grauud  for  liol;  jealousy  too  sadly  to  suspect  ai  what  back  door 
it  was  that  the  Anabaptist  first  crept  forth. 

f  And  hcnee  it  is  tlin^in  tiie  coutroversies  between  the  Proles 
tanis  and  the  Papis[s''"'e  shull  generally  and  abundunily  find  tbe 
Paiii«la  denying  the  liolincM  uf  the  infants  of  believers  befon 
b^Um.  —  and  how  n^ar  of  kin  lliiit  i«  to  Aiukbaptistu  tJie  rcailii 

I  ntif  easily  gues^ — and  in  like  manner  denying  ilial  great  inilli 
{U  is  afterwanf  showed  in  this  treatise,  vi?..,  tliat  the  coVL-nuil 
of  God  with  Abraliam,  under  the  Old  Testament,  was  the  same 
for  substance  with  what  is  now  confirmed  with  us  under  tt>c 
New  Testament,  etc,  which  (it  is  known)  tJic:  jinabaptisis  tko 
generally  assert.  Let  me  therefore  propound  a  few  instancM 
this  way,  whereby  we  may  see  what  pnlrons  of  Annbaptism  iW 
Papists  are,  in  regard  of  those  principles  (I  mean}  and  radical 
errors  wherein  the  Papials  a:id  Auabuptisis  (although  by  diren 
of  them  upon  the  account  of  a  diveree  interest)  symbolize  and 
unite  against  the  onhodux,  and  speak  herein  in  a  luanneT  the 
uroe  tiling,  (distinguishing  always  between  the  opinion  and  the 
[Krson,  and  between  sorae  that  are  deceived,  in  other  ptuols 
ortliodux  and  precioii«  Chrislians,  and  others  that  are  deceirert ;) 
the  rauin  pillars  of  Anabaptism  being  no  better  than  some  of  the 
old  rotten  sluds  and  piinciples  of  Popery  fetched  ut  first  from 
thenee.in  all  likelihood,  and  so  inclining  thitherward  again.  The 
dialect  of  the  Anabitptitit  is  generally  {and  too  much  by  some) 
underilooil,  and  iherefore  I  forbear  quotations  out  of  (heir  own 
writings  ;  possibly  souie  may  not  have  so  much  titken  notice  of 
the  like  from  the  Papist,  and  therefore  I  shall  briefly  mauifett  — 
tlie  same  by  showing  where  we  ehall  lliid  sorae  of  tlie  chief  a 
those  worthies  that  fought  the  Lord's  buttles  against  Antichrists 
opposing  and  confuting  them  both  therein.  I  will  cite  a  tew  p 
ticulara  this  wiiy  lunong  many  the  like  which  might  be  produt 
from  several  other  eminent  authors,  holy,  burning,  and  shininC' 
lights  in  the  churches  of  Christ,  who  liave  been  the  Lord's  wit-^ 
nesses  against  the  darkness  of  thm  spiritual  Kgypt ;  and  wbosel 


FREPACe  TO   TItK   READEB.  '  499 

tesiimonj'  io  this  malter  concludes  a»  strongly  agaJDst  the  Ana- 
bnptists,  having  e(pou»ed  lliosc  anti-Chri^lian  notions  bo  nearly 
to  tlicmselvea. 

1.  In  ihose  wonla  of  ihe  covenant  (■*!  yrill  be  a  God  Io  thee 
and  thy  Med  after  thee  ")  neither  lite  eternal  ia  promised,  Dor 
remiBsIon  of  sins,  but  only  a  certain  peculiar  leroporal  protection, 
sailh  Bullarm'uie,  (agreeing  therein  with  tlie  Anabaptist,)  against 
whom  herein  we  find  C'hamier  pleading  far  us.  (Panstrat.  torn. 
iv.  lib.  3.  <:^ap.  3,  parag.  9,  10,  etc.,  and  Rivet,  on  Ocn.  xvii.  11.) 
Again :  we  read  (Miith  Bellarmine,  the  great  Goliah  of  the  Pa- 
pists) that  God  promised  unto  Abraliato,  when  he  enjoined  him 
circumcision,  earthly  matters  only,  according  to  the  letter  j  that 
is,  the  propagation  of  a  posterity,  and  the  land  of  Palestine.  Read 
Ames  opposing  him.  (Beltarm.  Eiicrv.  lom.  iii.  lib.  1,  chap.  4, 
llies.  9.) 

2.  Touching  the  perrerse  and  Catabaptistical  intent  and  meui- 
ing  of  that  expression  of  Ihe  Papists,  vix.,  lliat  spiritual  promises 
dcsL-cnd  to  us  not  by  carnal  generation,  (as  they  coll  it,  the  very 
phrase  of  many  Anabaptists,  used  in   a  wny  of  derision  of  the 
grace  of  God,)  but  by  spiritual  regeneration,  et^!.,  (they  are  Ihe 
words  of  Dellannine  and  other  PapisM,  cited  and  confuted  by 
Ames  and  oihens,)  read  Ames,  his  answer  thereto.  Bell.  Ener, 
lom.  iii.  lib.  2,  cap.  I ,  ibcs.  5,  (consonant  to  the  judgment  of  the 
orthodox,)  vix.,  we  ncknowlcilge  indeed  spiritual  regenenilioa 
to  be  necessary  to  the  solid  participation  of  the  promiKcs ;  but 
thai  tliat  regeneration  is  part  of  the  promises,  and  belongs  in  A    i 
lingular  nuuintu'  to  the  children  of  believers,  the  very  form  of    , 
the  covenant  manifeslly  declanu.     See  likewbe  Chamier  largely    I 
replying  for  us  againat  Bellarmine,  Slaplclon,  and  othen  of  the 
Papitl^  Pun^lmL  torn.  iv.  lib.  5.  cap.  10,  parag.  24-27,  etc 

3.  The  sacrnmeDta  of  the  old  law  (or  Testament,  saiih  Bellar- 
mine)  lutd  no  absolute  promise  of  grace  annexed,  and  fho  prom- 
ises annexed  to  tho»e  old  sacraments  were  futlilled,  although 
men  did  nbt  believe.  Bead  Ames  against  him,  ibid.  lib.  1,  cap. 
4,  Ih.  6,  7.  Again:  the  Papists  (saith  Cheranii)  hold  thai 
Ood,  by  iha  lacraments  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  had  even 


L 


A 


I 


I 


800 

the  word  of  promUe  annexed,  did  exhibit  and  coafer  no  grut 
10  believers,  which  (sailh  he)  i«  maniresilf  fake ;  circumdaN 
alone  (nliiuh,  as  he  showelh  from  Scriplure,  is  called  the  ^ral  of 
the  righteousness  of  fnitli)  deinonstrstelh  aa  much.  And  ihrrt- 
npon  he  showelh  the  reason  why  the  Papists  so  mui-fa  urge  iliM 
difierence  helween  the  eacramenu  of  the  Old  and  Xew  Tett- 
ment,  viz.,  because  ihey  endeavor  by  anv  m»nner  of  i 
defend  and  etablish  the  opinion  ihey  have  of  their  optu  op^mNm. 
Chemnitij  Exam,  par  2,  de  sacram.  Bub  canon.  2. 

What  a  forcible  engine  of  the  man  of  sin  iliis  is,  snd  of  whit 
vast  concernment  as  to  bis  interest,  I  need  not  here  express,  aai 
what  arrows  of  Anabaptism,  drawn  out  of  this  very  quiver,  h»r 
been  sitot  against  the  orthodus  in  ihia  point,  is  koowci  nntoiH 

Moreover,  aa  to  the  comparison  in  Scripture  made  between 
the  sacrauienta  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  that  ia  1  Cor.  l 
1-4  (among  several  other  scriptures)  is  cited  by  Ames  agaiiul 
Bellarmine,  where  (he  apostle  speaks  of  our  fathers  being  b^ 
lined  in  the  sea,  etc.,  thereby  intimating  our  sacraments  to  be  Ihe 
same  for  subaiance  with  theirs  ;  or  sacramental  signs  and  a 
of  one  and  the  same  spiriiual  grace,  so  that  the  covenant  n 
clca,  or  promises  of  spiritual  good,  are  the  same  to  us  as  (o  ihem> 
Bellarmine  opposelh  this,  (as  doth  ihe  AnRbaptist.)  The  faihers 
(saitfa  he)  are  said  to  cat  the  same  meal,  not  becnuse  ■ 
theirs  was  the  same,  but  because  they  themselves,  all  of  them, 
did  eat  the  same ;  but  that  meot  and  drink  v 
they  had  no  promise  annexed,  etc.  (Bell.  Enerv.  lom.  iii.  lib.  1, 
c.  4,  th.  10,  and  Cham.  Panslmt.  lom.  iv.  1.  3,  c  2.) 

4.  The  Scripture  nowhere  calls  circumcision  a  seal,  (sajth 
Bellarmine  to  Rom.  iv.,}  unless  it  be  in  this  place,  where  AbT»- 
ham  is  spoken  of,  which  is  a  manifest  argument  that  circumci»oo 
was  a  seal  unto  Abraham  alone.  (Ames,  ibid.  c.  1,  th.  12.)  Bt 
this  weapon,  also  fetched  out  of  the  armory  of  Anlichrxst,  hath 
the  Anabaptist  not  a  little  gratified  the  common  adveftary, 

5.  The  Papists  genernllj'  assert  thai  llie  baptism  of  John  was 
not  the  same  for  substance  with  the  baptism  of  Christ,  nor  had 


PREFACE  TO   THE  REARER.  Blft' 

die  game  ffficacy  as  llic  bnplism  of  Christ  Iwlb.  Which  tenet 
see  ctinrutcil  by  Cariwright  on  the  N(MV  TeaUment,  (Malt.  Hi. 
1 1.)  and  by  Ames,  hclbu.  Enerv.  lom.  iii.  L  2,  c.  5,  th.  1,  2,  etc, 
and  Rivet,  Cathol.  orlbod.  tractat.  iii.  qu.  2,  and  Ghemnit,  Exam. 
'|>arl  2,  de  bnptismo  sub  canon.  1,  and  Cbamier,  Panstral  U  W. 
1.  !>,  c  12.  Slill  we  see  the  harmony  between  the  Papist  and 
thi;  Anabaptist.  And  hence  we  find  likewise  the  Papist  pleading 
I'or  the  rebaptiEing  of  those  who  had  received  the  baptism  of 
John.     (Chamicr,  ibid,  capi  l.S,  parag.  35,  etc) 

6.  The  Papiata  assert  that  laics  (aa  they  call  them,  i.  e., 
those  that  are  not  in  oflice  in  ibe  church)  may  in  case  administer 
bnpiism ;  yea,  ibat  not  only  men,  but  women,  may  do  it.  Read 
Ames,  his  confutalion  thereof,  Bell.  Enerv.  torn.  iii.  I.  2,  cap.  2, 
aud  Rivot  against  Baily,  the  Jesuit,  Cathol.  orlbod.  tractat.  .3,  qu. 
7 1  odd  thereto  Chamier's  Pansiral.  torn.  iv.  L  .'i,  cap.  14,  de  Ugiti' 
mo  Baptitnti  ntinittro,  where,  among  other  passages,  citing  the 
ibesif  of  Suarez,  lUe  Jesuit,  vU.,  "  that  any  body  wboAover,  that 
cnn  i^peak  and  waab,  may  be  a  sufficient  minister  of  baptism, 
whether  be  be  man  or  woman,  believer  or  unbeliever,  bapiized 
or  not  baptized,  if  so  be  be  know  how  to  wash,  and  uller  the 
words  with  a  due  intention,  hme  aueriio  (sailh  tlie  Jesuit)  ttt 
oinnino  certa.  But,  saith  Cbamier,  in  the  name  of  the  orthodox, 
we  teach  tJio  contrary,  vis.,  that  the  right  of  conferring  b^Usia 
l>elong$  to  those  only  who  are  public  officers  in  the  church,  etc., 
which  accordingly  he  there  makes  good  against  the  Papists. 

7.  Baily,  the  Jesuit,  (whom  Rivet  cncountcreth,)  to  the  qties- 
(iun  between  the  orthodox  and  the  Papists,  vis.,  "  whether  the 
infants  of  believers  are  holy  before  baptism,"  he  answcrctb 
ro'indly  for  them,  no.     (Uivei,  Cath.  Orthod.  tract.  3,  qu.  8.) 

And  touching  that  famous  place  cantroverted  between  our^ 
selves  and  the  Anabaptists,  in  regard  of  their  wresting  and  per- 
verting the  sense  of  that  scripture,  1  Cor.  7, 14,  ('*  Else  were  your 
children  unclean,  but  now  (hey  are  holy,")  we  may  observe  how 
ihey  tread  in  the  steps  of  tlie  Papists  that  have  gone  before  them 
tlierein,  (ai  they  likewise  do  in  that  noted  scripture,  Cul.  ii.  1 1, 
12,)  not  aUowing  baptism  to  answer  circumcision  uccording  to 


I 


■n  FPEFACE  TO   THK  KEADEK; 

Ibe  mind  and  mexning  oT  lUe  Holy  Gbosl  ;  wfacrvin  gvc 
mgminst  them,  Bel.  CDcrr.  lotn.  iii.  1.  I,  cap.  4,  lb.  13,  anil  Biir: 
in  Gen.  xtM.  Exenit.  8ft,  pag.  340,  eic  Take  a  isEte  of  iluj 
1  Oor.  rii.,ni  lollowclli :  BmIy,  (the  Jesuit.)  before  dW,  ibM. 
qoest.  9,  bbomh  thiM  to  ftvoid  the  dim  or  that  text.  The  aponb 
{snib  lie)  eicber  speaks  of  a  civil  ganctification  before  men,  Hat 
iIm  vAtota  ehnotd  ttot  be  illt^limate,  or  ba^ranle,  or  ebeof  ■ 
inatromental  auictiric«tion,  becau.>e  that  one  shall  proeme  tb» 
■^Mloa  of  the  other,  etc. :  the  lile  we  find  of  Bcllarmiiie^ 
apprebensioa  mad  judgment  of  the  aense  of  that  scripture.  iviEb 
children  ^»ith  he)  arv  said  to  be  not  (oDctetm,)  tbot  is,  iafamo^ 
and  bnstai^  but  (ho)^.)  that  is,  legitimate,  and  free  from  att 
ifitotninj.  (Anie«,  ibid.  lib.  2,  c.  1,  ih.  6.)  Tlie  RhetDUls  ab* 
Terjf  pemiciouslj^  abuse  ibis  scripture,  (and  are  not  thenis 
trilbout  their  ^Vnlipedobaptislical  followers;)  blessed  C^tnwrigbl 
exo^llentlj  npoa  the  plac-e,  in  bis  coafatatioo  of  tbeir  aonoialioB 
on  the  New  Testament,  defends  this  cause  of  Christ  agwqtf 
their  Popbh  glosses. 

It  is  (soilh  be)  one  thing  (oftentimes  in  the  Scripture)  to  lit 
RDiicii&ed,  Bird  nnoiher  lo  be  boly :  as  for  jou,  yoa  err  in  both; 
for  when  it  is  saiil  the  nnbelicvin^  partjr  is  saaeiified  by  Um 
beliering,  it  is  not  only  meant,  as  you  Niy,  that  the  muttiage  if 
ftli  occasion  of  the  sanctificntion  lo  the  infidel  party,  but  that  ihs 
use  of  the  inBdcl  party  in  msrringe  cotnpnny  is  sanctified  or 
made  holy  and  lawful  unto  the  believing  parly ;  ms  meat  and- 
drink  are  said  to  be  sanctified  uiilo  us  by  the  word  and  preyeiy 
(I  Tiin.  ir.  5;)  and  as  jour  interjHiiialion  here  is  short,  so  »< 
ihe  exposition  of  the  holiness  of  the  children  which  are  bogoUev 
in  ibis  miitrimony  it  is  utterly  false ;  and  first  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  the  apostle,  speaking  of  the  children,  doth  not  (as  you 
do)  apply  one  word  of  them  to  both,  saying  that  they  are  sanctified, 
but  saith  Ibai  they  are  holy  ;  which  is  more  than  he  had  spokea 
before  of  the  infidel  piirty ;  for  uUhough  our  meat  and  drink  bt 
sanctified  unto  us,  and  that  the  use  of  them  is  holy  to  those  which 
are  holy,  yet  the  meals  and  drinks  themselves  are  not  holy :  if 
therefore  you  were  short  in  the  interpretation  of  sanctified,  yoa 


PKEFACE    TO    THE    BEADER.  508 

Ihil  much  more  in  giving  (he  same  exposition  unto  the  holiness 
€  ihe  chtldi«a  i  for  if  the  bc4iness  here  sjiokcn  of  be  not  in  the 
Aildren  when  they  are  be^tten  tutd  born  of  the  parents,  but 
■temc  unto  them  afterword  b;  baptism  and  faith,  there  groweth 
rno  BufiicieDt  oomfort  unto  the  faithful  parly  to  continue  in  mar- 
riage  with  the  infidel,  considering  t)ist  ucciision  of  holiness  might 
eome  otherwise  liion  by  marriage.  For  that  which  is  able  to 
uphold  the  faithfol  in  comfort  and  strength  to  abide  in  marriage 
with  the  inSdel,  is  the  knowledge  that  tlie  childrCB  begotten  in 
(Jiiit  marriage  are  ia  covenani,  and  are  children  of  God's  favor 
and  grace,  washed  in  Christ's  blood,  and  saucified  by  his  Spirit; 
and  if  you  wilt  know  what  this  bohuess  of  children  new  bora 
U,  the  apostle  lelleth  you  (GaL  ii.  ]5)  thai  it  is  (through  the 
rovunant)  to  be  a  Jew  by  nature,  or  birtli ;  and  if  you  will  yet 
further  understand  what  llio  holiness  of  children  ts,  the  apostle, 
in  the  same  place,  lolleth  you  that  it  is  not  to  be  sinners  by 
nnture,  as  tho^e  which  are  horn  ot  the  heathen,  forasmuch  as 
tlieir  sins  who  arc  in  covenant  arc  by  Christ  not  re4:konod  unto 
ihem.  And  this  doctrine  of  the  holiness  of  the  children  which 
nre  born  of  the  fiulhful,  if  you  could  not  attain  unto,  it  is  so  sen- 
sibly set  forth  unto  you,  that,  unless  togellier  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth  you  arc  also  bereaved  of  your  common  sense,  yon 
can  not  he  ignorant  of  it  i  for  how  con  you  but  understand  that 
if  the  root  be  holy  the  branch  is  holy.  (Rom.  xi.  18,)  and  if  the 
tir!<i  fruits  be  holy  the  whole  crop  is  holy  ?  All  which  privileges 
of  cliildren  new  bora,  sometime  being  proper  to  tlie  Jews,  are 
now  our  privileges  as  well  as  theirs ;  since  we  are  grown  into 
one  body  with  them,  (Eph.  ii.  15,)  and  being  burgesses  of  the 
same  heavenly  city  tlutl  they  are,  must  needs  have  the  same 


I 


9  that  Ihcy  have ;  not  that  every 
ennnt  is  holy,  but  that  they  are 
inlil  the  contrary  do  manifestly 


enfranchisement  and  prcrogati' 
one  which  is  born  under  the  o 
so  to  bo  taken  of  llie  church, 
appear,  etc 

liy  the  premises  we  may  see,  therefore,  whence  (even  Irom 
ttial  mother  of  Imrlolji)  prubably  this  illegitimate  birth,  this  anti- 
Christian  flood  of  Anabuptiam,  hath  issued  forth  ;  yea,  and 


L 


PBEFACK  TO  TMK 

feu  U  Uke  to  be  nursed,  and  nuunlwncd  in  its  coarse,  antil  GoJ  | 
Wlh  dried  up  those  breasts  and  rivers  of  spiritaal  Bafajbo; 
in  tlio  meiui  while,  Calvin's  admonitian  louching  AiiBbaptism  mif 
■Ot  be  lUUMUOiiuble :  Merito  debet  nolnt  rue  aitgptettan,  fw'cfwf 
«  tala  oJfMma  frwHtrit,  (Opuscul.  in  Psyctiopnimjchi*,  p.  411, 
S.U.) 

There  an  MOie  who,  though  they  grant  tbe  bstptism  of  torn 
ehildran.  jti  nlleriy  deny  the  continuance  of  that  rovenm 
■tcrt^  of  God  to  their  succeeding  generations,  thoogb  lh«  cliturh 
•oc.iclj  whereof  they  were  members  be  not  dissolFed,  nor  ibt 
■urviving  poslerily  so  much  ss  deserve  to  be^  hy  the  disdpliiM 
of  Christ  in  his  church,  excommunicated.  Thie  seems  in  truth 
IQ  iun*c  from  their  not  tkcknowledgiog  sulficienllj,  or  not  Abiding; 
^  the  tntc  genuine  gmunds  of  the  bnptiem  of  tlioee  whoee  li^ 
to  bnptism  is  acknowledgud  by  Iheni. 

For  the  information  (therefore)  of  the  mintU  of  ihe  weak,  vnI 
Mnbli&hing  their  hearts  in  this  truth  of  God,  accordiDg  to  lk< 
Soriplures,  oven  in  the  doclrine  of  Pedoboptism,  (a  dodrfne 
I  of  so  great  concernment,  and  of  so  much  comfort  and  encourage- 
■wnt,  both  to  believing  parents  atid  their  children,  not  in  hfe 
Mtlf ,  bat  In  deMh ;  whence  it  is  that  they  only  can  be  preserred 
'nguiial  sonowing  when  they  fall  asleep,  ns  others  do  which  hafa 
mo  bop«s)  lhi«  ensuing  treatise  is,  at  the  eameel  reqtieet  of 
Buuiy  worthy  friends  to  the  author  of  it,  (of  blessed  memory,) 
BOW  iHihlUbcd;  wherein  we  miiy  see  both,  1.  The  membership 
nf  ilw>  chililrrn  of  church  members  proved  to  be  of  divine  inatito- 
tkut :  ami  likewise,  i.  Among  other  things,  the  continuaace  aS 
tkv  membership  of  ihose  children  in  particular  churches,  when 
e  grun-n  up,  even  until  they  ore  eicommunicatod,  unless 
•  ft  diuolniion  of  Ihe  |ier$on  by  death,  or  of  the  chtui^ 
g^*  ao  that  this  luttcr  is  not  a  principle  of  innovation  and 
ifi  but  as  It  was  the  Judgment  of  the  author  of  this  follow- 
l  hW,  («a  b  (herein  to  be  seen,  and  to  manifest  which  «m 


■  tiuMn<«*  hermir  9M  in  tlio  prefnce  to  (he  net  of  the  Byaod  held  at 
alon,  ISS3,  loni'hing  (injiilATn  >nd  cotiaofiAtioa  of  cltarrhci. 


P&EFACE  TO   THE  KEADKB. 


SOS 


} 


mra  n^ci&l  eei  of  the  printing  (hereof,)  so  was  it  the  light 
which  others  have  held  forth,  who  in  their  time  were  etars  not 
of  the  smallest  magnitude,  whom  we  have  here  seen  Bometimea 
shining  with  him  Bt  Christ's  right  hand,  bat  are  now  set,  and 
shining  with  that  Sun  of  righteousness  in  another  world. 

That  (here  b  no  cessation  of  the  membership  of  a  person  in 
this  or  that  particHlar  church,  {the  church  whereof  be  is  a  member 
continuing  in  being,  together  with  the  person  binutelf.)  unless  it 
be  by  means  of  a  church  act  intervening,  is  a  truth  of  no  small 
importance.  And  therefore,  as  for  that  nation  which  doth  ob- 
tain witii  some,  that  in  particular  churches  of  Christ,  walking 
in  the  order  of  the  gospe],  there  are  such  as  become  ccclesiasti- 
call}'  fflonri  tU  w  \  thai  is,  such  church  members,  who,  b^  their 
scandalous  sin,  do  become  their  own  executioners  ecclcsiasticaUjr, 
cutting  themselves  off  from  the  church,  so  as  that  they  thereby 
become  actually  non-members,  and  that  the  church  hath  no  mora 
power  over  them,  either  ecclesiasiically  to  admonish  them,  or 
excommunicate  them;  this  seems  tfnto  me  ta  be  but  a  human  in- 
Tention,  and  not  of  divine  institution  ;  yea,  in  truth,  destructive 
to  the  order  of  the  gospel.  And  therefore  to  apply  it  (as  to  mem- 
bers in  full  communion,  so)  lo  these  children  of  the  church  whom 
we  now  speak  of,  is  not  of  God ;  as  may  appear  by  these  reaaoRS 
following  :- 

1.  Because  it  is  anscriptural.  In  matters  of  God's  worship 
*  n^alive  argument  is  coitclusive;  if  that  which  is  asserted  bs 
not  Contained  in  the  Scripture  espressly.  or  by  due  ronsequenco 
iberefrom,  it  is  to  be  rejected.     To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony. 

The  Scriptures  alleged  by  some,  and  iliought  to  favor  this 
BOtiun  of  j'elontt  de  rr.  are  only  such  as  do  but  lay  down  before 
OS  the  siBB  of  some  church  members,  and  do  not  speak  of  the 
cniFi^n,  (punishment  or  censure.)  as  it  is  called  2  Cor.  ii.  6, 
which  in  such  cases  is  lo  be  infliuied,  and  therefore  are  not  ni 
rtm ;  only  tliai  which  seems  to  have  most  weight  in  it,  and  to 
which,  tberefon?,  I  shall  brieCly  reply,  is  that  in  Acts  viii.  21, 
"Thou  bast  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter."  An$.  1  would 
oot  say  that  this  text,  propounded  witli  reference  to  tlie  childrM 

VCIL.    III.  43 


806 


PSETACB  TO   TBK    BEAJIKB. 


ihoBgh 


of  ifae  dumh  that  are  not  in  foil  cmmniniicn,  ts  no4  t 
kecun  tbe  text  speaks  of  a  member  ia  1 
to  tKj  M  mncli  is  accounted  bj  some  a  sufitcieot  i 
Scriptore  argomeDts  as  cooclade  against  felonet  de  »e,  from  chnrdi 
Bembers  that  are  in  full  commanion  {qu^amut  charch  membm] 
to  such  church  memben  as  are  not  in  full  commanioii.  But  -^ 
having  guned  this  fwt,  that  what  is  in  Scripture  spoken  of  i 
member  in  full  communion  \i  applicable  (as  far  as  mere  membrr- 
ahip  reocbeih)  to  a  member  that  is  not  in  full  commnnion,  at 
maj  now  the  more  easily  proceed  in  the  after  discourse.  To 
this  scripture  (then)  alleged  for  children  of  tbe  church  not  io 
full  communion,  by  their  sin,  when  adult,  to  become  f^tmt*  dt  h, 
as  above  said,  I  answer, — 

1.  That  the  objection  from  hence  tends  as  much  to  fmstrait 
the  church  act,  or  censure  of  eicouununicalion  upoti  member* 
in  full  oommunion,  and  makes  that  ordinance  of  Christ  vain  and 
needless  to  the  parents  in  full  communion,  as  to  tliese  children. 
S.  These  words  of  the  apostle  Peter  were  indeed  a  dreadfal 
admonition,  and  the  apostle,  being  a  church  officer,  did  jwlgt 
this  sinner  to  deser\-e  it  for  his  simony ;  so  that  he  was  not 
(granting  the  cessation  of  hia  membership)  /eh  de  t«.  3.  By 
(this  matter)  spoken  of  in  the  tost,  seems  most  properly  to  be 
meant  (not  church  membership,  but)  the  power  of  giving  the 
Holy  Ghost  spoken  of  in  the  coniexi,  which  power  Simon  Ma- 
gus vrould  have  bought  with  money,  and  for  which  the  apostle 
rebukes  him ;  and  therefore  his  not  baring  part  or  lot  in  that 
matter,  is  to  btt  understood  directly  with  relation  (o  tiuit  ex- 
tmordinary  power ;  the  apostle  would  have  him  know  tliat  h« 
should  not  share  in  such  a  power  or  privilege  as  that  was.  4,  I 
would  nsh  wlicther,  if  a  member  of  a  church  be  discovered  not 
(o  have  his  heart  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  but  to  be  Jn  the  gaQ 
of  biUorncRB  and  bond  of  iniquity,  stand  conriet  of  simony,  and 
th«  wloktdnou  bo  so  grossly  aggravated  as  this  scandal  of  Simon 
UagtM  WM 1  1  say,  whether  the  church  is  not  bound  to  bear 
iritnoM  a|{altiit  lueh  un  offender  by  inflicting  some  church  cen- 
Min  (im>|wrl7  m>  laken)  upon  him.     If  it  be  smd  no,  then  may 


VRXFACE  TO  THE  &XADER. 

lit  not  be  questioned  wliether  auch  a  church  would  not  as  weQ 
tolerate  any  other  pollutions"  and  defilements  in  it  wUalsoever? 
ithe  woful  fruit  whereof  who  is  there  that  doth  not  easily  per-  ■ 
I  eeive  ?  On  llie  other  side,  if  it  be  said  yen,  that  the  church  is  to 
censure  and  authoritatively  to  put  away  from  among  themselves 
auch  a  wicked  person  by  excommunication,  I  then  demand  (if 
this  notion  of /eh  df  le  he  right  and  sound)  how  they  can  excom- 
municate one  who  is  a  non-member  before  the  church  can  pass 
(be  sentence  of  excommunication  against  htm.  Wliether  doth 
this  scripture  (Acts  viii.  21)  give  the  church  power  over  bim  by 
hs  discipline  to  censure  him  who  already  (as  tbe  objection  speaks) 
hath  cut  himself  off  from  being  a  cburcb  member;  or  whether 
the  church  hath  any  part  in  him  who  hath  no  part  or  lot  in  them, 
or  in  these  matters. 

2.  Scripture  example  leads  us  to  what  b  contrary  to  tins 
felony  spoken  of;  witness,  under  the  Old  Testament,  iBlimael's 
being  cast  out  by  Abraham,  who  was  the  chief  officer  in  thai  family 
church.  So  the  incestuous  person  under  the  New  Testament  is 
not  ftlo  tU  >e,  though  guilty  of  such  a  sin  as  was  not  so  much  as 
named  among  the  Gentiles,  (1  Cor.  v.  1 ;)  hut  there  is  a  church 
act  intervening  his  sin,  and  the  cessation  of  his  membcrly  com- 
munion with  that  church,  viz.,  a  delivering  him  (toioEioi-,  such 
a  one)  unto  Satan.  Hence,  as  the  ehurch  of  Ephcsus  is  com- 
mended for  not  bearing  with  them  which  are  evil,  {Rev,  ii.  2,) 
so  the  ehurch  of  Thyatira  is  rebuked  for  sufieriog  thai  woman 
Jezebel  (ver.  20.) 

8.  Because  this  notion  of  /eta  tie  le  takes  away  the  use  of  a 
ministerial  judge  in  ihe  church,  in  case  of  the  offenses  and  scan- 
dals of  this  or  that  pnrticuhir  member  of  the  church,  to  deter- 
mine of  the  same.  Suppoamg  a  person  could  ecclesiastically  cut 
himself  off  from  the  church  by  his  very  act  of  sin,  there  wouM 
then  bo  no  room  left  for  a  competent  judge  to  inquire  into  the 
crime  whereof  he  b  accnsod,  and  to  make  particnlar  applica^on 
of  the  rule  to  Ihe  cose  of  the  sinning  brother,  and  pass  sentence 
according  to  tlie  true  desert  and  nature  of  tbe  offense.  That 
Ood  hath  ordained  a  minuiterial  judge  is  plain,  (Halt,  sviii.  17 ;) 


L 


[  408  rREFACE   TO  TttE   READEK. 

If  he  neglect  to  bear  tbe  churcb,  the  chmrcli  b  to  be  hearl: 
&e  phrase  of  our  Saviour  Clirist  implies  judicial  supcriorilT  un 
tlie  churcli'3  part,  unci  tbe  inTeriority  iu>d  subjection  of  a  port  or 
member  to  that  trbole,  etc;  but  ntrvr  tbis  felonj  dmielh  Uiii 
order  wbicb  Cbri^i  biub  establisbed.  Tboi^h  a  person  deserve 
excomnmuicmiciD  perbaps,  yet  it  aust  uppear  tint  be  do  ikserre 
it ;  neitbcr  dotb  bis  wickedness  for  wbJL'b  he  deserves  excom- 
municatioQ  render  bim  u  non-member  till  he  be  excoiaiQUDiciUed; 
and  bence  in  tliia  case  ia  very  considerable  wbat  is  aeserted  by 
tbat  deservedly  famous  dirine.  Mr.  Cotloa,  in  lus  book  ealitled 
The  Keys  of  tbe  Kingilum  of  tIeaTen,  viz^  though  tbe  jury  have 
given  up  their  judgment  and  verdii't,  yel  ib«  ntalefuctor  is  aai 
thereupon  legally  condemned,  much  less  executt:d,  but  upon  the 
Benlence  of  the  judge  ;  in  like  sort  here  (saitb  he)  thou^  the 
brethren  of  tbe  cburcb  do  with  one  accord  give  up  their  vote 
and  judgment  for  tbe  censure  ii£  an  offender,  yet  he  itt  not  there- 
by censiired  till  upon  the  sentence  of  the  presbytery. 

4.  Bec&utie  the  bindiiig  and  loosing  mentlooed  Matt.  xri.  19, 
tbe  opening  and  shutting  of  tbe  doors  of  the  ehureb  by  the  keys 
of  tbe  kingdom  of  heaven,  belong  to  the  same  power  or  stibjed ; 
hence,  therefore,  m  none  may  intrude  biinaelf,  or  can  regularly 
lie  admitted  or  let  into  this  or  that  particular  cbur<^  witlmut  a 
chui'ch  act  intervening,  so  none  con  be  shut  out  and  deprived  of 
that  membership  therein  (as  above  said]  without  an  act  of 
the  same  power  intervening.  Kjtisdem  jmltitatit  est  Ugan 
tt  tolnere,  elaiidert  cl  aperirt.  (Mr.  Cotton's  Keys,  cap.  vii. 
p.  15.) 

5.  Taken  irata  Matt,  xviii.  15-18,  which  comntand  and  >ii£ti- 
tution  leaves  churcbea  under  ft  solemn  obligation  of  duty,  iLal 
when  this  ofieuding  brother  or  cburcb  member  deservelh  excom- 
Btimication,  that  ceuaure  be  duly  inflicted  on  bioi,  so  aa  that 
thereby  (viz.,  the  sentence  or  censure  passed  ogninst  him,  in 
case  he  will  not  hear  the  churcbj  be  must  be  to  the  church  as 
a  heathen  man  and  a  publican ;  so  tliat  it  is  not  a  matter  of 
i&diSerency,  (to  be  ol^erved  or  not  to  be  observed,)  but  after 
the  steps  taken  (mentioned  in  verses  15,  16)  and  the  brother 


I 


;e  to  the  reader.  509 

mtun  obstinate.  It  is  Clirisl's  cliarge  that  then  that  public  pro- 
Ms  [ver.  17}  be  atteoded,  whereby  the  oft'ender  becomes  ecdesi- 
latic^lly  bound,  according  to  verse  111.     Christ  therefore  ivquirea 

■  a  cbarch  act  to  iutervene,  as  above  said,  and  so  the  ofieoder  is 

"  BOt  felo  de  u. 

6.  Because  a  scandalous  member  of  a  church,  by  virtue  of 
Christ's  institution,  (Matt,  xviii.  17,)  is  lo  be  accounted  not  as  n 
heathen  and  publican,  but  still  a  church  brother  if  be  will  hear 
the  church,  this  is  clearly  intimated  in  those  wonls,  (if  he  neglect 
(o  hear  the  church,)  running  conditionally,  which  suppose  tliat 
if  he  will  hear,  he  is  not  to  be  as  a  heathen ;  i.  e.,  his  membership 
shall  not  cease,  notwithstanding  the  scHudalous  sin  committed. 
Therefore  by  his  wickedness  and  offense  he  is  not  felo  dt  u. 

7.  Because  this  felony  objected  tends  to  render  that  ordinance 
of  church  censure  and  admonition  laid  down  MotL  xviii,  15,  etc, 
vain  and  useless,  for  the  felo  de  le,  by  hb  sin,  becoming  a  non- 
member,  and  so  no  church  brother ;  hence  let  a  private  member 
of  the  church  go  to  lell  him  his  fault,  in  the  sense  of  ihe  text, 
which  is  in  order  lo  more  solemn  church  proceeding  and  judica- 
tore,  in  case  he  will  not  hear;  or  let  the  church  require  him  in 
the  name  of  Christ  to  hear,  in  such  a  church  way  as  is  there 
spoken  of;  he  may  tell  them  that  he  is  no  brother  of  the  chnrch, 
for  he  hath  by  his  oScnsc  cut  off  himself,  and  therefore  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  him ;  that  that  rule  of  Christ  concerns 
only  llie  brother,  or  the  church  member,  not  one  tliat  is  out  of  the 
church,  as  he  is,  being /e/o  de  te,  and  tliereforc  may  say,  (accord- 
ing lo  1  Cor.  V.  1 2,)  "  What  have  you  to  do  U>  judge  me  that  am 
without?"  If  his  sin  be  noi  yet  great  enough  to  render  him 
felo  de  w,  and  he  suspect  that  therefore  the  church  may  have 
power  over  him,  and  is  going  about  to  bind  )um  on  earth,  so 
that  (being  thereupon  abo  bound  in  heaven)  he  shall  become 
bound  from  an  orderly  entrance  in  at  the  doors  of  other  sister 
churches  without  repcolaiice  first  held  forth  to  the  acccptanca 
of  the  church  which  he  otTended,  it  is  then  but  to  commit  another 
fault,  whereby  he  may  be  sure  he  shall  be  felo  de  te,  and  so 
be  ia  beyond  the  church's  reach,  and  this  frustrates  church 


(10  PREFACE   TO  THE   RKADEB. 

fiMiplioe,  and  renders  vaia  that  ordinance  of  Christ  abore  ia»  I 


8.  To  deny  the  intcnening  of  ihis  church  act  of  e 
wtion  IB  to  deny  unio,  and  withhold  from  a  person  deserriegB  I 
a»t  out  of  the  chur(?h,  an  ordinnare  and    me^ns  wluch  m^   I 
be  for  the  saving  of  his  soul.  (I  Cor.  v.  4,  5.)     It  is  not  enoogb  I 
o  say  that  the  feto  de  $e  makes  himself  no  men 
church  i«  iVeed  from  his  communion,  which  would   pollute  il,il   I 
fully  as  if  he  were  excommunicated  ;  for  God's  means  an  m 
empty  or  vain  means,  and  to  think  to  reach  the  full  end,  boi  ot 
Q  God's  way,  and  by  obserring  his  mean?  ordained,  is  neillKf  I 
Christian  wisdom  nor  gospel  policy ;  yea,  to  deny  the  applicaticn 
of  this  ordinance  of  escommimi cation  to  the  oflending  brother '» 
to  deny  a  means  for  the  salvation  of  his  son],  and   to  deny  a 
remedy  for  his  repentance,  and  the  healing  and  gaining  of  oar 
brother  again. 

.  Because  the  Holy  Ghost  commands  the  chureh  to  judg>  1 
thera  lliat  are  within,  (1  Cor.  \.  12,)  "  Do  you  not  judge  1 
Ihat  are  within?"     All  that  are  within  are  subject  to  ec< 
■etical  judicature,  and  therefore  can  not  by  Scripture  warrant  bt 
/elonei  de  k. 

10.  Because  this  notion  of  filones  dt  »e  evacuates  that  power  | 
given  of  rebuking  before  all,  (1  Tim.  v.  20,}  which  is  to  be  done 
without  partiality,  whether  they  be  young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  ' 
etc.,  (ver.  21,)  and  so  likewise  lakes  away  that  authority  givoi  I 
of  reproving  with  all  long  suffering,  [i  Tim.  iv.  2.)  leaves  m  J 
room  for  obedience  to  that  command  (2  Tliess.  iii.  lo)  of  admoo^v 
ishing  the  offender  as  a  brother,  etc.,  add   thereto    that   I 
notion  of  the  feto  de  le  supposoth  some  disobedience  in  a  churdh  I 
member  of  an  open,  scandalous  nature,  against  which  God  hall(  I 
not  provided  the  remedy  of  spiritual  revenge  in  an  ecclesiasticii  I 
way,  contrary  to  that  2  Cor,  x.  6,  where  the  apostle  saith,  "  Wi  1 
have  in  readiness  to  revenge  nil  disobedience,"  etc. ;  that  this  b 
spoken  of  church  discipline  is  well  cleared  by  that  expression  of 
worthy  Mr.  Collon,  viz.,  ilie  apostle's  revenge  of  disobedience  by 
way  of  reproof  in  preaching  doih  not  follow  the  people's  obedW  J 


>  THE   READER.  SIX 

encc,  but  proccedetli,  wbclhcr  ibe  people  obey  it  or  no ;  it  waa 
therefore  their  revenge  of  disobedience  by  way  of  censure  in  dis- 

11.  The  notion  of/e/o  de  le  asserts  the  Uwfulness  of  esuliuton 
or  Bhulting  a  church  member  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by 
none  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  vix^  by  the  sin  of 
this  felon,  or  gives  the  managing  of  tlicse  keys,  in  a  cnae  which 
concerns  the  whole  to  act  in,  (for  such  is  (he  oon-cororaunion 
of  a  member  with  the  church,)  into  the  hands  solely  of  a  private 
person  ;  both  which  right  reason  doth  plainly  condemn. 

13.  Because,  were  the  sin  of  a  church  member  of  as  high  and 
'heinous  a  nature  as  heresy,  nay.  (which  is  more,)  though  th« 
brother  of  a  church  should  turn  heretic,  yet  he  is  not  immediately 
thereby  a  non-member,  or  /do  de  tt;  he  is  not  ppasenily  to  be 
rejected  ;  but  a  first  and  second  admonition  must  be  applied,  and 
in  case  of  incorrigible ness  then  follows  the  ecclesiastical  rejecttoti 
spoken  of  Tit.  iii.  10;  he  must  be  rejected,  hut  according  to 
God's  order,  even  the  order  of  the  gospel ;  for  all  things  arc  to  be 
done  in  order,  (1  Cor.  xiv.  40 ;)  so  when  the  apostle  required  the 
Corinthians  to  put  away  from  among  tfaeoiseltes  that  wicked 
person,  it  is  to  be  understood  of  putting  such  away,  end  avoiding 
such,  and  withdrawing  themselves  from  such,  and  having  no  com- 
pany with  such,  etc.  All  in  due  season,  and  all  according  to  ihs 
order  of  Christ,  even  according  to  that  rule  of  delivering  such  k 
one  unto  Satan,  as  is  expressed  1  Cor.  v.,  and  suiting  with  that 
other  command  of  Christ,  (Matt,  xviii.,)  according  as  the  nattire  of 
the  oficnse  is  more  or  less  heinous,  proportionably  is  the  admoni- 
tion to  be  applied,  either  in  case  the  offense  be  at  first  private, 
but  grows  public  and  notorious  by  the  im))enitcncy  and  obstinaCT 
of  the  offender  ;  or  in  case  the  offense  be  at  first  rise  of  it  public 
and  notorious,  still  we  have  no  allovruice  from  Scripture  to 
entertain  or  admh  of  llie  opinion  of  this  ecclesiastical  felony. 

Uaving  thus  finished  this  discourse,  I  shall  now  very  briefly 
acquaint  the  reader,  in  a  word  or  two  further,  touching;ihe  ftJ-j 
lowing  treat iscinjia-;  lhn>-i«  was  written  by  the  author's  owdI 
hand,  and  not  tliree  months  before  the  time  of  his  ilissolulion,! 


512 


)   THE   ItEAHES. 


»iul  sent  lo  one  who,  btfore  Ihe  receipt   thereof,  was  not  »  | 
clpur  in  the  j»inl  of  inrant  baptism,  but  was  horeby  recorerH 
and  stablifilicd  in  the  trutb,  and  died  in  tlie  same  faith  as  ihe 
letter  did  persuade  bim,  (to  use  Mr.  Fox  his  phrase  in  hit  B 
of  &Iartyrs,  toucliing  tbat  excellent  letter  which   Fhilpot.  ibu    I 
glorious  martyr,  a  little  before  his  dealh  aleo,  wrote  to  a  frioid   I 
of  hia  tbat  was  then  a  prisoner,  upon  thia  very  subject  of  infaM   I 
baptism,  who  was  lliereby  converted  from  the  error  of  his  « 
as  is  there  lo  be  seen  —  a  letter  exceeding  well  worth  the  rwd-  ] 
ing  and  serious  perusal  bj  any,  such  especially  ns  hesitate  in 
matter.)     The  reader  may  please  further  to  mlDtl  tbat  tlii$  wu 
not  intended  by  the  reverend  author  for  the  public  \-iew,  but  "it 
only  a  private  answer  sent  to  a  special  friend  for  his  particular 
satisfaction,  relating  to  some  doubts  mentioned  in  a  letter  of  hii 
to  my  father  concerning  this  subject.     Had  be  purposed  to  bate 
written  and  printed  olT  his  tliouglits  to  the  world  toucbiog  tfais 
arliule  of  baptism,  I  question  not  but  he  would  have  been  mon 
polite  and  curious ;  and  the  expectations  of  those  who  knew  bun 
thoroughly  saiisSed  therein.  ' 

I  would  not  detain  the  reader  by  any  further  preface  of  min«; 
and  therefore,  to  conclude  :  May  this,  from  one  who  is  now  in 
heaven,  unto  such  as  may  have  too  for  engaged  against  Grod's  cov-  I 
enant  mercies  toward  his  and  our  poor  children,  aeni  indeed 
in  H  special  manner  unto  sucb,  have  a  rich  and  eflbctual  blessing 
from  the  Father  of  lights  and  mercies,  a  belter  effect  upon  their 
hearts  than  that  famous  letter  had  of  Elijah  the  prophet,  upon 
Jehoram,  lo  whom  it  was  sent,  (2  Cbron.  xxi.  12,)  —  written,  it 
is  thought,  by  divers,  before  his  translation  to  heaven,  but  con- 
cealed until  there  was  so  fit  a  season  for  the  presenting  of  it,— 
,  may  this  writing,  (I  say,)  and  in  such  a  season  also,  have  a  ' 
better  effect  and  fruit,  even  to  bring  them  from  the  error  of  their 
way  into  the  paths  of  truth  and  peace,  ani^  settle  them  and 
others  more  and  more  therein.  That  is  the  sincere  desire  of  tho 
publisher  thereof,  who  is 

Thine  to  Serve  thee  in  our  Lord  Jesus, 


1.    THOMAS    SHEPARDIUS. 


Hbd  I  PandiBiu  alii  lattctU  inbntibaa  lioawn  t 

Qaos  baptizari  praxripk  ipse  DcnaT 
Qnoa  D«iu  atnbabua,  Clemens,  umpleeiitor  nliua, 

Nod  fincl  in  |rr«mio  Tingier  ilia  suo  I 
Aunon  pro  aanclis  EM:Iesia  (motor)  haliebit, 

Quaa  siincli  lanctos  tox  aii  eise  Dei  1 
Hoc  DcDi  avorui.    Non  tic  Shepanliai  olim, 

Non  lie,  quia  morieni  icripta  reliqait,  aionL 
Non  lie  doctores  celcbrat  quM  lanctiar  oMa, 

Anglia  qooi  cotebrat  Pn»ca,  siiuDlqaii  non. 
Uii  utioam  mucus  Dens  ipse  laboriboi  alnuun 

E  anperis,  rlemeiu,  inppediuret  opem  I 
Qui  line,  doctune  non  alii,  scripta  ncc  olU, 

EiTORs  posiunt  caniificaiT  maloa. 
Jul  conSmiBbaa  pucromin,  Chrlste.  tBonun 

A  gmnio  veUcat  cam  rorocare  too ; 
SnTgiio,  Wtenicsqnc  tno*  dofondiio  ab  boaw 

Qui  Tdlet  laude*  ( — eanqne)  perire  tau. 

Amen.    Jdkuiiih  WtLMvro,  S 


II.    THOMAS    SHEPARD. 


ho,  btn't  a  map,  when  w«  may  see 

Well  threihed  a  heap  af  com  to  bo, 

Dj  Thomai  Sheponl'a  happi  hand, 

Which  ^m  iho  rhaff  pare  wheal  haih  fiumed : 

The  wheal  i>  the  dmrch  mcmber'a  right, 

(Doib  great  and  lilllo  one*,)  lo  wil  -. 

Unto  ihs  hbI  uf  baplUni,  all 

That  are  witlijn  llie  gotpcl  call ; 

I  mean  helieren  and  their  seed, 

To  whom  the  Lord  haih  promiMi] 


5U 

To  be  ihrit  God :  and  dolh  reveal 

Their  right  lo'i  coTcnant  and  the  seal ; 

On  nrhom  tbroagh  gram  tlie  blessing  can 

Of  hU  dear  Krrant  Ahrahiun. 

Be  Ihey  or  Jews  or  G«atilei.  now 

No  diffewnce  iho  I«rd  doth  know. 

Th<  proraisD  is  to  us  and  oara 

As  large,  or  larger ;  and  God  ponrt 

His  Spirit  DOW  as  mudi,  or  mora 

Than  ere  he  did  on  them  before. 

And  if  that  thcjr  wen  circnmciaed, 

Then  we  are  now  to  be  baptized  ; 

Oar  babes  mast  now  no  loii  than  their* 

Be  sealed,  (ai  of  his  kingdoni  heirs;) 

Christ  calleth  them  his  Utile  ones. 

And  as  his  darlings  ho  ihom  otnu. 

Denouncing  ngniiiBt  them  ■  wo« 

That  are  despisera  of  them  iriio 

Offend  the  least  of  them,  and  such 

Ai  do  tlieir  interest  in  him  gmtch. 

Crispas,  with  Gains,  Stephanas, 

Willi  others,  were  not  all  throagh  gnue 

Bspticcd  (hat  of  their  household  « 

And  diildrca  who  will  donbi  were  there  1 

Then  let  ns  not  to  them  denj. 

Nor  seem  as  if  we  did  ci 

The  privilege  which  God  from  heaven 

Hath  thraugli  his  grace  and  faror  givao. 

Nor  lot  us  limit  his  good  spirit 

In  application  ofChrist'i 

Whose  blood  was  shed  fur  them,  as  w 

As  those  who  them  in  age  cxcot ; 

If  such  be  lauglit  of  God,  who  date 

Denj  Ihey  lus  disciplos  art  1 


m.    THOMAS    SUEPARD. 

AiuiinBi:    Hon  kuk  fm'A. 

ISoMB  &om  ihii  hoi?  pen  tmlb  paued 

Th«  bapiiam  lo  dofcnd 
or  iDfiiDls  llial  phucch  mombcra  ara 

[IT  well  joa  do  nllenrj) 
Than  an;  >nti'Baptiati  ran 

With  Mlidnesa  confuU. 
I  with  with  all  m;  licart  thai  God 

Will  gTMttt  ihcw  Inbora  Trait. 
A*  good  OT  britcr  than  the  paiiu 

Bj'  other  godlj  uken ; 
That  thereby  all  hi*  prcclooa  aaiau 

He  voald  pleau  tu  awaken, 
Tbat  ooae  ma?  anj  mon  oppoea 

With  leal  pccpoaianiiu 
Tba  truth  which  God'i  moat  holf  word 

Commendeth  onto  oi ; 
That  who  were  leu  conTinced  bj 

Tbia  holj  Sbcpard'a  roice, 
Tet  in  hia  letter  left  behind 

Thrj  ma;  the  more  njoico. 
Ha  wai  a  ibiniDg  light,  indeed ; 

Few  other  lach  are  left ; 
The  Lord  roodiule  we  be  not  b; 

Oar  tim  of  Ihem  bcrrft. 
And  poor  down  of  bit  Spirit  mora 

Upon  hii  aon*  torriring. 
That  will  be  moi«  and  maiv  unto 

Trutb'i  lorcrt  a  reviling. 


THOMAS    SHEPARD. 

ABifrua:    Am'd  ••  ihtihup. 


.^16 

Defends  ihp  right  of  lilllc  o 

Whom  God  in  the  charvh  c 

Tb«  children  of  his  charch  ■inqng- ; 

To  whoid  hii  kingdom  doth  belong. 

And  tbenwilfanl  the  wal  thereof. 

Thnmgh  his  free  mcrcj,  Bf»<^  *•><)   Iotbj 

Tet  ue  there  mmc  which  them  forbid 

(Ai  once  hii  weak  disciples  did) 

To  come  to  Christ,  and  scruple  nuko 

Whether  thereof  they  ahonld  partake. 

Bat  Christ  was  rory  angry  for  it ; 

As  for  such  ical,  he  did  abhor  it ; 

O.  come,  said  he,  and  welcomed  mch 

With  (okeni  of  affection  mach  ; 

As  if  that  they,  nnd  Kaproel  j  any 

Bat  sDch  as  they,  might  challenge  toy. 

Or  pan  or  partioa  in  his  grace. 

(So  did  his  favor  them  emhrace.) 

Bis  habei,  his  lamba,  his  liltls  crestarcs 

Ho  calls  ihcm.    As  for  such  defeatorcs, 

Christ  they  defeat  as  well  as  tham 

Whom  ihoy  presome  so  to  conlMnn. 
"^is  holy  Shepard  Is  like  D«Ti<l, 
I  From  lion's  mouth,  and  bear's,  who  ttirid 
tThat  litllo  kid  ;  whom  God  did  ftowd 

With  great  atid  ainj;nlnr  rnnaurn  ; 

And  so  thU  Shepard  hath  [no  doubt) 

A  gloHons  cTovn  bis  head  shont, 

Far  nil  his  labors,  (and  for  thii,} 

In  high  and  Fierlaitiiig  hiiss. 

And  as  the  Lord  doth  honor  him, 

(For  Christ  his  saka,)  so  his  esteem 

Both  is  and  ought  to  be  moil  rare 

'MonRst  Uiem  irho  Christ  his  followen  arap  ■ 

And  O,  bow  should  we  bless  his  aaine 

That  on  his  son  be  pours  the  same 

Good  spirit  that  was  in  the  father, 

Or  doubles  it  apon  him,  rather. 

Lord,  thesd  epistles  do  thou  blesa  I 

And  us  tliy  Truth  they  do  confess, 

So  make  them  precions  in  the  eyei 

Of  nil  ihal  do  thy  gospel  priiC, 

Amen.    Jonn  Wii. 


CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP   OF  CHILDREN 


WiiEN  wc  say  ibnt  children  are  members  by  their  part^nta' 
covenant.  I  noulil  premise  three  things  for  explication. 

1.  Thnt  children  of  godly  parents  come  to  the  fruition  of  tlieir 
membership  by  their  parents'  cofenant,  but  that  which  gives 
Ibem  their  right  nnJ  interest  in  this  membership  is  God's  cot- 
eo&nt,  whereby  he  engng^tb  himself  equally  to  be  a  God  to  them 
Mtid  (o  their  seed.     This  I  suppose  is  clear. 

2.  That  according  to  the  double  seed.  tie..  I.  Elect  seed; 
2.  Church  seed ;  eo  there  ia  a  double  covenant,  1.  External  aod  ' 
outward ;  2.  Internal  and  uward.  And  because  the  covenant 
makes  the  church,  hence  there  is  an  invran)  and  outward  mem- 
bership and  church  estate ;  there  is  an  outward  Jew  and  an 
inward  Jew.  (Kom.  ii.  28,  29.)  All  are  not  Israel  (i.  e.,  the 
elect  seed)  that  ^re  of  Israel,  (i.  e.,  the  church  seed,  or  in  out- 
ward covenant,)  to  whom  the  apostle  saith  belongs  the  adoption, 
(be  covenant,  and  the  promises ;  that  is,  the  external  adoption, 
whereby  God  accounts  them  his  children,  or  the  children  of  hia 
house  and  family,  the  children  of  the  diurcb  ;  and  accordingly 
bnve  the  pramisns  belonging  lo  tbcm  in  rpsjtecl  of  outward  dia- 
]>cnsalion,  although  they  be  not  children  by  internal  adoption,  lo 
whom  belunj'  the  pitimises  by  etfivtual  and  special  communication 
of  taring  grace.  It  is  clcsrcr  than  the  day  that  many  who  are 
inwivtilly,  oE  in  rwpcct  of  inwnrd  I'ovenani,  the  children  of  the 

'  devil,  ure  outwardly,  or  in  respect  of  outward  covenant,  the  chil- 
,,  dren  of  God.  Is,  i.  2,  "I  have  brought  up  children,"  and  yet 
m  "iwbellious  i "  and  in  the  next  verse  they  are  called  "  iny  people," 
^,(U  e.,  by  outward  covenant,)  and  yet  worse  than  the  ox,  or  ass- 
■         VOL.  lit.  41  dl7 


I 


I 


518  THE    CnURCU    MEMBERSHIP    OF    CBILUREir. 

DenL  xxxii.  19,  20,  they  are  uaJled  sons,  and  j-ct  proTokiv 
God  lo  revengerul  wrath  i  and  cliildren,  and  yet  without  fiuih. 
And  look,  as  some  may  be  exlcroally  dogs,  and  yet  iDl«nallf 
believers,  (as  (he  woman  of  C'nnaan,  nhooi,  in  respect  ofootwui 
covennnl,  Christ  calls  a  dog,  and  the  Jews  who  yet  rejected  iaa 
children,  Mmu  xv.  26,)  so  many  may  be  externally  children 
in  respect  of  external  covenant,  and  yet  internally  dogs  and  ei3 
men ;  and  we  see  (lial  the  purest  churches  of  Christ  are  ctW 
sninl!!,  and  faithful,  and  children  of  God,  and  yet  many  biodii* 
tliem  liypocrilcs  and  unbelievers ;  because  they  that,  in  respe« 
of  church  estate,  and  outward  covenant  and  profession,  in 
oiitWBolly  or  federally  saiaia.  are  many  times  inwardly  ud 
I  really  unsound.  Hence,  therefore,  it  is,  that  when  we  say  llal 
children  are  in  covenant,  and  so  church  members,  the  meaoine 
is,  not  that  they  are  alwaya-jn  inward  _coven^t.  and  inwsri 
church  members,  wB?rcnjoy  the  inwarll  aii5  savmg  benefits  d 
the  covenani,  but  that  they  are  in  external  and  outward  eorenan^ 
and  therefore  outwardly  church  members,  to  whom  belong  soM 
oatword  privileges  of  the  covenant  for  their  inward  and  etenut 
good. 

These  things  being  clear,  I  the  rather  tneke  mention  of  llies 
lo  undermine  divers  usual  objecliona  agaioBt  the  membership  aoj 
covenant  interest  of  children  ;  as,  that  tbey  have  no  saving  gnu* 
many  times ;  and  that  they  make  no  actual  profession  of  an 
grace,  and  that  many  of  them  degenerate  and  prove  corrupt  ana 
>  wicked,  etc. ;  for  suppose  all  these,  yet  God  may  take  them  inU 
outward  covenant,  (which  is  sufficienl  to  moke  them  the  churcfc. 
seed,  or  members  of  the  church,)  although  he  doth  not  receiit 
them  into  inward  covenant,  in  bestowing  upon  them  saving  graa^. 
or  power  to  profess  it;  nay,  though  they  degenerate  and  grow 
ven'  corrupt  afterward. 

8.  Because  you  may  question  what  this  outward  covenant  ii, 
to  which  the  seals  are  annexed,  and  under  which  we  shall  proitf 
children  are  comprehended;  and  because  the  knowledge  of  itk 
exceeding  useful  and  very  pleasant,  I  shall  therefore  give  a  shod 
taste  of  it,  as  a  light  lo  our  after  discourse,  especially  as  it  il 
considered  in  the  largest  extent  of  it.  This  outward  coveoanl^: 
tliercforc,  consists  chiefly  of  these  three  branches,  or  spedd 
promises: — 

1.  The  Lord  engagelh  himself  to  Ibem,  that  they  ahall  bA 
called  by  bis  name,  or  his  name  shall  be  called  upon  them,  as  it 
is  la.  Ixiii.  19.  They  shall  be  called  the  sons  of  God,  (Hoe.  L 
10,)  and  the  people  of  God.  (Deul.  xxix.  12,  13  ;}  thou  becam- 
cst  mine,  (KEck.  xvi.  8.)     They  may  not  be  his  sons,  and  pet^dBk 


TQE  CHURCH  HEHSBRSBtP  OF   CIIILD&EN. 

really  and  eavinj,'!)-,  hut  God  will  honor  them  outwardly  (at 
least]  with  this  name  and  privilegi: ;  they  ebnll  bc-nr  liU  name,  U> 
be  culled  so,  and  consequently  to  be  accounted  so  by  others,  and 
to  be  reckoned  as  of  tlie  number  of  his  visible  church  ani]  peo- 
ple, just  as  one  ibnt  adopts  a  young  bod  ;  he  tells  the  father, 
if  he  carry  it  well  towarxt  him,  wheu  he  is  grown  up  to  years 
he  shall  possess  the  inheritance  itself;  but  yet,  in  the  mean  while, 
he  shall  have  thia  favor,  to  be  called  his  boo,  and  be  of  his  family 
and  household,  and  so  be  reckoned  among  the  number  of  his 
tons.     See  Rom.  ix.  4. 

2.  The  Lord  promUeth  that  ihey  shall,  above  all  others  in  the 
world,  have  the  means  of  doing  them  good,  and  of  conveying 
of  the  special  benefits  of  the  covcnunL  Nay,  tliey  shall  be  set 
apart  above  all  people  in  the  world,  to  enjoy  these  special  ben* 
etits  of  remission  of  sins,  power  against  sin,  eternal  life,  etc,  and 
shall  certainly  have  these,  by  the^e  means,  unless  they  refuse 
them )  this  is  evident  from  these  and  such  like  scriptures  and 
examples:  What  privU^e  hath  the  Jew?  (saith  the  apostle, 
Kom.  iii,  1,  and  what  advantage  by  circumcisicHi,  if  by  nature 
under  wrath  and  sin  ?  for  upon  that  ground  the  BjHMtlu  makea 
the  question :)  he  answers.  It  is  much  every  way,  but  chieHy  be- 
cause to  thi-m  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God,  i-  e.,  the  word, 
promises,  covenant ;  which  are  the  ordinary  means  of  saving 
grace  and  eternal  good :  others  hear  the  word,  but  those  in  out- 
ward covenant  enjoy  it  by  covenant  and  promise;  and  hence 
these,  in  the  tirst  place  and  principally,  are  sought  after  fay  these 
means ;  and  thei^fore  Christ  forbids  hii  disciples  at  first  to  go 
preach  in  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  (persons  out  of  covenant,) 
but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  bouse  of  Israel,  (KlalL  x.  6 ;)  and  him- 
self tells  the  woman  of  Canaan  that  he  came  not  but  to  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  (AfatL  sv.  34.)  And  although  he 
bids  his  disciples  go  preach  to  all  nations,  yet  (Acts  iii.  26)  it  is 
said.  Unto  you  first  hath  be  sent  Christ,  bei'auae  you  are  children 
of  the  promise  and  covenant,  (ver.  25;)  repent  therefore,  and  be 
converted,  (ver.  19.)  Do  not  re^t  or  refuse  Christ,  for  ho  hatb 
first  sent  Christ  to  yon,  to  bless  you  and  turn  you  from  your  in- 
iquities ;  and  the  promise  is  full  and  fair.  (Rom.  si.  23.)  If  they 
abide  not  in  unbelief,  (i.  e..  in  refusing  grace  and  Christ  when 
offered,)  they  shall  be  graffcd  in,  for  God  is  able  to  do  it,  and  will 
do  it ;  and  the  reason  why  the  Lord  gave  his  people  up  to  their 
own  counsels,  it  was  because  "  my  j>eopIe  would  none  of  mo," 
after  all  the  meaits  God  used  fur  their  good.  (I's.  Ixxxi.  11-13, 
and  Ueut  vii.  G.)  The  Lord  liath  choeen  you.  above  all  people 
on  the  earth,  to  be  a  special  people  to  hlinsetf,  and  thou  art  « 


AZO      TQE  CUURCU  UEUBERSBIr  Or 

fcoly  p«i|i)e  unU)  ihe  Lord.  How  a  holy  people?  Bji  b«wJ 
holiocBS  'i  No.  verily  ;  for  many  of  tliem  were  inwardly  uiW*, 
boU)  pnrcnla  and  children  ;  but  ibou  arr  Loly,  L  e^  tlMU  M 
externtUly  sanctified  and  «et  apart,  by  special  means  of  twIiMah 

IU  be  &  Gpecial  people  unto  Grod.  And  therefore  (1$.  r.  7)  dt 
•men  of  JudnU  are  called  God's  pleasant  |>Uut  ;  i.  c,  plaond  IM 
tbe  root  and  fatness  of  the  churult,  and  ilierefore  had  all  amt 
wed  for  their  furlher  fpecial  good.  (ver.  4.)  '■  Wliat  cooU  W 
ioat  to  my  vineyard  that  haUi  not  been  done  ?  "  And  kan 
it  w,  that  though  the  word  roay  come  to  heathens  u  wdl  ■ 
church  memberB.  yet  it  comes  not  to  them  by  way  of  kiiiimH. 
«B  it  doth  to  church  members;  nor  hav«  they  any  prasuwrf 
I  mercy  aforeluuid,  as  church  members  have  ;  Dor  is  it  chiefly  be- 
longing lo  8uch,  but  unto  the  children  of  the  covenant  aitd  lie 
promiae.  od  hath  been  said.     And  hence  also  it  follows  ihai/Gal 

B never  cula  off  the  seed  of  his  servants  from  the  special  b. 
the  euvenaiii,  until  they  have  bad  the  means  thereunto, 
'lutve  positively  rejected  those  means  /  and  hence  the  " 
Are  made  the  pattern  of  what  God  will  do  toward 

'  churches,  Kom.  xi.)  were  never  east  off  till  by  positii 

they  provoked  the  Lord  to  break  them  off  by  rejecting  and  rdte- 
ing  the  means  of  their  eternal  peace. 

9.  The  Lord  promiseth  that  the  seed  of  his  people  (indefiniul; 
eonsidered)  sliall  have  this  heart  (viz.,  which  would  refuge  epeoii 
grace  and  mercy)  taken  away,  as  well  as  means  need  for  Hat 
tud !  this  is  evident  from  Deut.  xxx.  6,  "  The  L.ord  thy  Go4 
will  circumcise  tliy  heart  and  the  heart  of  tliy  seed  lo  love  tbe 
Lord  i "  be  will  cut  off  the  uncircumcision,  and  sin,  nnd  reaii^ 
aoce  of  ihe  heart  against  God ;  he  will  tako  away  ihe  sUaiJ 
heart ;  not  indeed  from  all  in  outward  covenant  particolarlyi 
but  from  these  indefinitely  ;  so  that  thece  is  no  promise  to  do 
this  for  any  out  of  tlie  visible  church,  (though  God  of  bis  so*- 
ereiguty  and  free  mercy  sometimes  doth  so,)  but  the  pronuM 
of  this  buloQgii  indefinitely  to  those  of  his  church,  among  whoa 
usually  uud  ordinarily  he  works  this  great  work,  leaving  him  to  hit 
own  freuncss  of  secret  mercy,  to  work  thu«  on  whom  he  will,  ■a' 
when  he  will ;  in  the  mean  while  no  nutn  can  exclude  btmsetf,  M 
any  others  within  this  covenant,  frooi  hope  of  this  mercy  and 
ffrace,  but  may  with  comfort  look  and  pray  for  it ;  for  this  t 
God's  covenant,  that  the  Redeemer  shall  come  out  of  Sioo,  ani 
turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob,  (Rom.  si>  26,  27 ;)  for  tin 
covenant  of  Gi>d  doth  not  only  run  thus.  If  thou  believe  * 
receive  grace,  thou  shall  have  it;  but  thus  also,  I  will  ciroun 
your  heart,  I  will  take  away  the  stony  hearl,  I  will  lum  w 


THE  GBTRCH   HEUBERSHIP   OF   CmLDSEIf. 


nnp)dliiics8  from  you,  I  will   enable  lo  believe.     And   heace 
tliese  three  tilings  foUow  from  the^e  thi[i|^  thus  opened :  — 

1.  That  as  ihe  covenant  runs  not  onlj  thus,  viz.,  "  If  thou  be- 
lieveat  though  shalt  be  flaved,"  but  also, "  I  will  ennhle  to  believe," 
so  a  man's  entrance  into  covenant  is  not  onlj  by  actual  and 
personal  profession  of  fitilh,  (a:*  some  say,)  because  God's  oor- 
enant  runs  a  peg  higher,  vj)!.,  to  moke  and  enable  somu  to  bo- 
lieve,  and  ho  lo  raake  that  profession. 

2.  Tlmt  the  very  outward  covenant  is  not  merely  conditional, 
but  there  is  something  absolute  in  it ;  and  beuee  it  follows  that 
it  is  a  great  mistake  of  some  who  think  that  circumcision  and 
baptism  sen!  only  conditional ly,  the  outward  covenant  being, 
say  they,  merely  conditional ;  for  those  three  things  mentioned 
in  the  outwHni  uovenant,  you  see,  ure  in  soma  ruspect  absolute, 
and  if  the  covenant  waa  only  conditional,  then  the  Lord  was  no 
more  in  covenant  with  church  members  than  with  pagans  and 
infidels ;  for  it  may  be  propounded  conditionally  to  all  such,  that 
if  they  believe  they  shall  be  saved;  but  assuredly  God's  grace 
is  a  little  more  extensive  to  the  one  than  to  the  other. 

3.  Hence  you  may  sec  what  cicumcision  once  did,  and  baptism  \, 
now  seals  unto  ;  even  to  infants  the  seal  is  to  confirm  the  cor-')^ 
enoDt ;  the  covenant  is,  that  God  (outwardly  at  least)  owns  them, 
and  reckons  them  among  liis  people  and  children  within  his  risi- 
ble chun'h  and  kingdom,  and  that  hereupon  he  will  prune,  aitd 
cut,  and  dress,  and  water  them,  and  improve  the  means  of  their 
eternal  good  upon  them,  which  good  they  ehiill  have,  unless  they 
refuse  in  resisting  the  means ;  nay,  tliat  he  will  take  away  thia 
refusing  heart  from  among  them  indefinitely,  so  that  though 
every  one  can  not  assure  himself  that  he  wiU  do  it  particularly 
for  this  or  that  person,  yet  every  one,  through  this  promise,  may 
hope  and  pray  for  the  communication  of  this  grace,  and  so  feel 

ThcHe  things  thus  premised,  lo  clear  up  the  ensuing  discourse, 
[  I  shall  now  do  two  tilings.  1.  Leave  a  few  grounds  and  reasons 
e  that  children  ore  in  church  covenant,  and  so  enjoy 
I  church  mcrobershiji  by  their  parents.  '2.  1  shall  then  answer 
I  ybur  acruplus. 

I      Arffummt  1.      To  tht  /rtl.     The  truth  of  it  is  manifest  by 

l-dearing  up  this  pra|MMition,  vis.,  that  one  and  the  same  covenant, 

Vbich  was  made  lo  Abraham  in  ibe  Old  Testament,  is  for  sub- 

Itancc  thii  some  witli  that  in  the  New  ;  and  thi»  under  the  New 

{Testament  the  vi-ry  same  with  that  of  Abroliam's  under  the  Old. 

[  say,  for  substance  the  some ;  for  it  is  acknowledged  thai 

ts  something  proper  and  personal  in  Abraham's  corcDM^ 


52a 


uEKBERseip  OF  CBiu>aK3r. 


I 


as  Id  be  A  futher  of  many  nations  ;  but  this  was  not  of  the  n 
glance  of  the  coi'enaiit,  wliicli  belongs  to  nil  the  coveowiifrk 
nod  uiilo  wbieh  ihe  seal  of  drcumeision  was  set ;  for  alt  Aim- 
hiun's  Bood,  neither  iu  ihose  nor  these  ditys,  are  iLe  fatbena' 
many  nalions,  nor  diil  cirvumciaion  seal  iu 

Again :  it  is  ocmfedscd  that  the  external  adminietnuions  of  i^  I 
one  and  the  aaiue  corentuit  are  diverse  ;  but  still  the  coveou*  I 
far  sub^itance  h  the  same.     For  that  old  coveniuit  was  di^pcmci  I 
with  other  external  signs,  sacritlces,  types,  prophecies,  than  ibii  1 
under  the  new.     There  was  something    lypicsl   ■□   AbraliWi  I 
covenant  Muicerning  Caoann,  a  tjpe  of  heaven ;  but  jct  the  si 
covenant  remains  now  with  a  more  naked  maaner  of  dispc[i»  I 
tion,  or  promise  of  heaven.     And  hence  it  follows  ibai,  if  ii  maf  1 
appear  that  the  coveuani  iiaelf  is  one  and  the  same  dow  a$  thc%  I 
then  as  now,  then  it  will  undeniably  follow  that,  U'  the  netf  I 
covenant  under  the  gmpel  be  iwit  a  carniU  covenant,  n 
that ;  if  llie  new  covenant  be  not  proper  to  Abraham 'd  naiuni  I 
seed,  no  more  was  that  which  was  mode  with  Abraham ; 
substance  of  that  covenant  was,  "  I  will  be  a  God  lo  thee  and  il^  I 
seed,"  then  this  verj  covenant  remwns  still  under  the  gospel,  it  I 
being  one  and  llie  same  with  that ;  if,  by  virtue  of  thai  covenant  f 
the  children  were  made  members  of  the  eburcli,  and  hence  bad  a  I 
church  privilege,  and  seal  adminiatered,  then,  the  same  covcnaat  1 
remiuning  the  same,  and  in  ibe  same  force  and  beucfii,  our  dilt' 
dren  also  are  taken  into  ibe  like  memberEbip.     IL  remains  tbert- 
fore  to  prove  that  which  all  our  divines  have  long  since  made  good 
against  the  Papists,  that  the  covenant  then  and  now  is  for  sub- 
stance one  and  the  aume ;  or  thai  ihe  covenant  made  with  Abr*-  J 
hum  was  a  gospel  covenant,  and  this  gospel  covenant   the  t 
that  was  made  with  Abraham. 

1.  The  covenant  made  with  Abraham  b  renewed  in  the  go>>  I 
pel,  as  lo  the  main  thing  in  it,  viz.,  I  will  be  their  God,  and  W 
shall  be  my  people,  (Ueb.  viii.  10;  Jer.  xxxL  3^;)  and  i" 
the  seed  be  not  expressed,  yet  it  is  understood,  a«  it  is  Gm<J 
xvii.  8,  and  if  need  be  shall  be  proved  herealler. 

2.  Because  Abraham's  covenant  la  of  gos|)el  and  eternal  prifkl 
ilegesi  not  proper  therefore  to  him,  and  his  fleshlj  posleritytT 
for  rigbteousnesB  by  faith  was  sealed  up  by  circumctAioii,  (Bon 
jv.  11,)  which  is  a  gospel  privilege,  and  is  the  ground  of  » 
other  privileges ;  and  yei  in  Gen-  xviL  7,  there  is  no  expreasioafl 
of  this  righleouaness  by  faith,  but  it  is  understood  therefore  i  ' 
this,  I  will  be  their  God,     So  the  promise  of  eternal  life 
resurrection  thereunto  is  wrapped  up  in  this,  "  I  am  the  God  ofl 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob." 


TOE   CHUBCB   UEMBEBSIIir   OF  CUILDREK. 

3.  Because  there  wjis  ntver  any  covunant  but  it  wa*  either 
of  grace  or  works  ;  ttial  of  works^  Mount  Sinai,  that  of  graoa 

wtricInVllS    lUlUte    Willi     Ahraham  ■    anil    jinnpff    ^fial    jji.   17)    ths 

covenant  wKii'li  was  confirmed  afore  bj  Christ,  the  law  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  afler  can  not  diiiannul.  And  what  waa 
that  covenant  isefore  ?  Surely  it  was  the  covenant  of  grace, 
because  it  was  confirmed  by  Christ :  and  what  was  this  covenant 
confirmed  by  Christ  but  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham?  for 
of  thia  the  apostle  speaks,  (ver.  14,  IC.)  anil  he  calls  it  espreuly 
by  the  name  of  gMpel,  or  the  gospel  covenant,  (ver.  8,  9.) 

4.  Because,  when  God  reneweth  his  promise  and  covenant 
made  wUh  Abraham  with  his  peojile  at  the  plains  of  Moab, 
(Deut.  XXX.  6,)  it  runs  in  these  words,  vis. :  '■  I  will  circumcise 
thy  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  «eed."  Now,  this  is  a  gospel 
privilege  and  a  gospel  covenant,  us  appears  by  comparing  this 

.  text  with  Rom.  x.  8,  wherein  the  righteousness  of  faith,  or  the 
gospel,  is  brought  in  speaking  the  words  of  this  covenant,  saying, 
"The  word  is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  heart  and  mouth."  (Deut.  XKX. 
11-14.)  Now,  if  that  plnce  (Gen.  ivii.  7)  should  be  said  to  b<i 
obscure  concerning  the  prombe,  (I  will  be  a  God  to  thy  scinI,) 
yet  here  in  this  place  Gud  speaks  plainly,  which  by  comparing 
the  Scriptures  is  a  gospel  promise,  and  of  a  gcie|)t;l  privilege,  and 
ther«fore  to  be  preached  by  ministers  of  llie  gospel,  and  to  bt 
beLevcd  by  the  professors  trf  it, 

5.  Because  this  promise  (1  will  he  a  God  to  thee  and  thj 
Beed)  doth  not  belong  to  Abrahaio  aiulius~MeiLM.i|flcc  ihw  flfyti, 

ni,  but  as^teliev     ~"       '     '' 


t  Rom.  XL,  wherein  it  is  Raid  ot  the  Jews,  1.  That 
they  were  broken  olT  (made  no  people,  no  church)  by  unbelief. 
(ver.  20.)  2.  Th»l  by  failh  they  shall  be  graSed  in  agiun.  (ver. 
23.)  If,  therefore,  they  were  broken  off  the  church  by  unbelief, 
then  they  stood  as  membere  of  the  church  by  faith ;  and  if  by 
faith  tbi^  should  be  gralTed  in.  then  they  stood  by  fnith  at  first. 
Again  i  it  is  said,  in  this  Rom.  xi.  28,  that  Iheyare  loved  for  the 
fathers'  soke*,  surely  not  M  natural  fathers,  but  as  epiritanl  by 
faith  1  and  hence  (Neh.  ix.  8)  it  is  expressly  Raid,  that  God  found 
Abraham  faithful  before  him.  and  made  a  covenant  with  him. 

Again  :  if  the  [Kisterity  of  Abraham  were  memhen  upon  this 
ground  only  or  chiefly,  (vix.,  because  they  were  lineally  dtisccnded 
of  Abmhain,  then  Esau,  Ishmael,)  the  Jews  (Rum.  xi.  20)  could 

Ittever  ha\'e  been  cast  off  from  being  members  of  the  church, 
tecauso  they  were  alwujs  tlie  natural  offspring  and  poctcrity 
of  Abraham.  Hence,  therefore,  it  follows  that,  if  they  were 
|DgntlTi.-d  in  the  church  aa  believers,  (the  father*  m  adttallj 


S24 


THK  CRUBCB   UEMTICRSDIP    OF   CDILIIBEK. 


:viug,  the  children  as  set  upart  by  promise  of  Gtxl  la  U 
made  10  believe,  and  in  tlieir  parenU'  faidi  accounted  beljevm,) 
then  all  believers  &i  this  day  hare  the  SAtne  privile|;e.  and  lU 
COveDant  then,  being  made  onl;  in  respect  of  ftuth,  tauu  xnttis  he 
Rospel  TOVenant,  the  same  with  God's  covenant  at  this  daj.  M 
nence,  aUo,  it  follows  tliM  if  they  were  members  as  believfn. 
then  not  as  memberi  of  (hat  nation.  Tliej  were  not,  ih«rrftn. 
isoinbei'9  of  the  church,  bccnuse  iliey  were  descended  of  Aln- 
,  fiDd  were  in  a  national  church,  and  were  by  fKtiKT»b» 
Jews.  CircuDicision  was  a  seal  oi'  righteousness  bj  faith,  (Rao- 
It.  11;)  therefore  they  were  sealed  as  believers. 

Thus  much  for  the  first  argument,  wherein  I  have  been  ike 
larger,  bccautie  much  light  is  lei  in  by  it,  to  answer  divers  nu*- 
takes.     I  shall  name  the  rest  with  more  brevity. 

Argument  2.  If  it  was  the  curse  of  Genrilcs  to  be  ma*- 
gers  to  ibe  covenants  of  promise  (made  with  the  Jews)  heforc 
Ihey  became  the  churches  of  God,  theu  by  being  cburchei  iliii 
Gurne  is  removed ;  and  hence  (Eph.  ii.  12,  13)  ifa«  apostle  »ib 
they  were  strangers  to  the  covenant  and  eommonn-ealtfa  of  Israel, 
but  are  not  so  now.  If  you  say  that  the  Ephe-siana  were  In 
Sovenant,  but  not  their  seed,  and  so  they  were  not  strangen,  I 
Answer,  that  the  apostle  dolh  not  set  out  their  cursed  escan 
merely  because  they  were  without  any  covenant,  but  b«caiw 
they  were  strangers  to  ihat  covenant  of  promise  which  the 
Israelites  had ;  tor  if  their  children  had  it  not,  tbev  were  ihea 
'ithout  covenant,  so  without  God  and  without  hope,  as  [ta^Oi 
Are,  which  is  notoriously  croas  to  the  current  of  all  Scripture,  at 
may  afterwurd  appear. 

Argument  3.  The  apostle  expressly  saith,  "  Your  children 
are  holy,"  (I  Cor.  vii.  14;)  and  if  federally  holy,  then  of  the 
church,  (for  real  holiness  can  not  be  here  meant,)  and  in  the 
covenant  of  it ;  even  as  it  is  said.  (Deut.  rii-  6,)  Thou  art  "a  holy 
(leople  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,"  few  of  which  mumber  were 
really  and  savingly  holy  ;  but  they  were  all  so  federally,  or  by 
covenant,  and  so  became  God's  special  church  or  people. 

If  you  ftoy  that  this  holiness  is  meant  of  matrimonial  holineas, 
viz.,  that  your  children  are  not  bastards,  but  legitimate,  the 
■nswer  is  easy ;  for  upon  this  interpretation  the  apostle's  afiawer 
should  be  false  ;  lor  then,  if  one  of  the  parents  had  not  been  a 
iver,  and  bo  by  his  believing  sanctified  his  unbelieving  wife, 
their  children  must  have  been  bastards ;  whereas  you  know  that 
their  children  had  not  been  in  that  sense  unclean  or  illegitimate^ 
although  neither  of  them  were  believers  ;  for  the  apostle's  disputa 
is  plain,  viz.,  that,  if  tbe  believing  husband  did  nut  sanitity  his 


THE   CHURCH   UEMBERSHIP  OP  CHILDREN,  525 


unbelieving  wife,  then  were  your  cliililren  unclean,  i.  e.,  say  you, 
bastards ;  but  it  18  evident  itiat  children  may  he  in  this  genae 
cleaji,  and  yet  no  faith  in  either  parent  to  uuiciify  one  an- 
other to  their  particular  use,  unless  yuu  will  suy  that  all  chil- 
drtm  of  heatliens  are  baatards,  because  neither  of  the  parentB 

Argiiinent  4.  Rom.  xi.  17,  "The  Jews  are  cut  off  from  the 
fatness  of  the  olive  tree,  and  the  Gentiles  put  in,  or  ingratfed  in 
their  room."  Now,  this  ingratling  is  not  into  Chritt  by  saving 
faith,  for  it  is  impossible  that  such  should  ever  be  broken  off  who 
are  once  in  ;  it  must  therefore  be  meant  of  their  ingraffing  inli) 
the  external  state  of  the  visible  church,  and  the  fatness  and 
privileges  thereof,  of  which  church  Christ  is  the  external  and 
political  head,  into  whom  (in  this  respect)  they  are  ingraffed  by 
external  visible  faith  and  covenanL  Henc«  thus  I  reason:  tht^ 
if  the  Jews  and  their  children  were  ingraffed  members  of  the 
church,  then  the  Gentile  dturcbes  ingrafied  into  ttie  same  state, 
■nd  coming  tn  their  room,  are,  toother  with  their  children,  mem- 
bers of  the  church ;  when  the  Jews  hereafter  shall  be  called, 
tbey  shall  be  ingraffed  in  as  they  were  before,  them  and  their 
seed.  (ver.  23.)  In  the  mean  while  the  apostle  puts  no  differ- 
ence between  the  present  ingraffing  of  the  Gentiles  now  and  of 
Uieirs  past,  or  to  come,  and  therefore  they  and  their  seed  kk 
ingraffed  members  now. 

Ar^Hjiunt  9.  Because  there  is  the  same  inward  cause  moving 
God  to  take  in  the  children  of  beli<?ving  church  members  into 
the  church  and  covenant  now,  to  bo  of  the  number  of  his  people, 
u  tliere  was  for  taking  the  Jews  and  their  children ;  for  the 
Odly  cause  why  the  Lord  look  in  the  Jews  and  their  children 
thus,  was  hi*  love  and  free  grace  and  merry,  Dcut.  iv.  37, 
*  Decauae  he  loved  thy  fathers,  therefore  he  chose  their  seed ; " 
which  choosing  is  not  by  eternal  election,  or  choosing  to  glory, 
for  many  of  th«r  teed  never  came  to  glory,  but  unto  this  priv- 
ilege, to  be  his  people  above  all  others  in  outward  covenant 
with  him  ;  which  is  exceeding  great  love,  if  you  remember  what 
bath  been  said  of  the  branche»  of  this  outward  covenant  and 
Tiaihie  church  estate.  And  hence,  (Deul.  x.  15,)  "because  the 
Lord  had  a  delight  in  thy  fathers,"  hence  he  chose  their  seed 
above  all  people,  as  at  that  day,  vii.,  to  be  his  people ;  so  that 
I  do  from  hence  fully  believe  that  either  God's  love  is  in  theM 
days  of  his  gospel  less  unto  his  people  and  servants  than  in  the 
days  of  tlic  Old  Testament,  or,  if  it  be  as  great,  that  then  the 
wuiie  love  respectd  the  seed  of  his  people  now  ai>  then  It  did. 
And  therefore,  if  then  because  be  bved  them  be  cfaoee  their  seed 


k 


636  Tns  cHCBcn  HEHB&aaaip  of  childbkm. 

tobeuf  hh  cliurch,  so  in  these  d«r»,  becao&e  he  lovelliB^k 
dioosoth  our  seed  to  be  of  hb  church  alao. 

Argument  6.  BecaUM  our  Saviour  speaks  plsiol;  oftSlti- 
trcn  who  are  brought  to  him,  that  of  auch  is  the  kiagim4 
heaven ;  and  noue  are  ordinariljr  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  flgij 
liut  such  as  are  of  God'«  visible  church  and  kingdom  h«rc.  ~ 
objections  agiunst  this  place  I  thiuk  not  wonh  confaUn^  beo 
I  hope  enough  is  said  lo  clear  up  this  first  particular,  to  p 
the  chiUriin  of  confederatg  believers  to  be  in  coT«iain, 
church  meuihers. 

now  proceed  to  the  secoad  thiog,  vis.,  to  answer  jonrck 
jections. 

Objection  1.  If  children  (say  you)  be  members,  as  it  « 
Abraham's  covenant,  then  wives  and  servants,  and  all  the  bods^ 
liold,  are  lo  be  taken  in ;  for  so  it  was  Gen.  xvii.  aiid  Gen.  xxir. 
2, 3 ;  and  then  what  churches  shall  we  have  but  such  as  yoa  fear 
God  will  be  weary  of  and  angry  with  ? 

Antwer.  Churches  at  first  (by  your  own  confeasion)  w« 
funilies,  where  therefore  God's  grace  did  the  more  abound  \ij 
how  much  the  less  it  did  abound  abroad.  And  hence  Abrabam't 
iamily  and  household  was  a  church  of  God :  but  yet  cot 
withal  that  all  were  not  of  this  family  church,  merely  becaaM 
they  were  of  the  family  or  household,  hut  because  they  mvn 
I  godly,  or  the  children  of  such  as  were  godly  in  the  family  t  for 
Abraliam's  servants  and  household  were  such  as  he  coutd  and 
did  command  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  so  were  obedieat 
to  God  in  him,  (Gen.  xviii.  19  ;)  and  we  see  they  did  obey, 
and  did  receive  that  new,  strange,  and  painful  sign  of  oircam- 
dsion,  about  the  nature  and  use  of  which,  no  doubt,  he  first 
instructed  them  ;  and  in  the  place  you  mention,  (Gen.  xxxv.  4,) 
they  "gave  (o  Jacob  all  their  strange  gods  and  earrings  "  to  wor- 
ship God  more  purely.  And  it  L)  evident  (Ex.  xii.  4o)  that 
every  one  in  the  family  hod  not  to  do  with  the  scab  of  tba 
church,  and  therefore  now  not  of  the  church,  though  of  tha 
&mily ;  for  a  foreigner  or  hired  servant  was  not  to  eat  of  iba 
passover,  nor  was  every  one  who  was  bought  with  money  lo  eat 
of  it  until  they  were  circumcised,  (ver.  44,)  nor  were  any  sadi 
to  be  circumcised  until  they  were  willing  and  desirous  to  eat  thft- 
passover,  and  that  unio  the  Lord  ;  then,  indeed,  they  and  theira 
4  were  first  to  be  circumcised,  (ver.  4S  \)  and  although  ihti:  be  not 
lexpressly  set  down  (Gen.  xvii.)  in  Abraham's  family,  yet  I  doubt 
^  not  but  that  as  one  scripture  gives  light  unto  another,  so  iJ  '' 
Yscinpturo  in  Exodus  sliows  the  miod  of  God  in  the  first  begintiing 
'  j<^  Che  church,  as  well  as  in  these  limes :  if,  therefore,  the  servants 


wbo  were  godly  in  the  family  were  onlj  to  be  circumcised,  anil 
their  chiMrcn  born  in  the  house  wiih  tht!m,  then  this  exainjile  is 
no  way  leading  to  corrupt  churches,  as  you  fear  it  will,  but  ratbur 
the  contrary,  that  if  proselyte  servants  then  were  receiTed  into 
the  church  together  with  their  seed,  much  more  are  they  received 
now ;  and  if  they  did  not  defile  ibe  church  then,  neither  thould 
we  think  that  they  will  do  so  now. 

And,  I  bcseeeh  you,  consider  of  it,  (hat  God  was  then  aa 
careful  of  keeping  his  church  holy  as  in  these  days,  especially- 
in  the  first  consliluiion  of  it,  as  in  this  of  Abraham's.  (Gen.  xvii.) 
And  hence  God  was  aa  much  provoked  by  their  uaholiness  then 
as  by  any  unholineas  now.  (I  Pet.  i.  li>.)  Suppose,  therefore, 
(aa  you  imagine))  that  all  the  household,  whether  profane  or  holy, 
were  to  be  received  into  ihe  covenant,  and  so  to  the  seal  of  it, 
do  you  think  that  this  course  of  ndmitting  all  profane  persons  then 
would  not  make  the  Lord  soon  weary  of,  and  angry  with,  those 
fatnily  churches,  as  well  as  of  national  or  congregational,  now, 
opon  ihu  like  supposition?  If,  therefore,  any  servants  bom  in  the 
bouse,  or  hired,  were  admitted,  surely  they  were  not  such  unholy 
ones,  whom  the  Lord  could  not  but  be  as  much  angry  with  then 
as  now  ;  but  they  were  godly  and  holy,  at  least  in  outward  pro- 
fession, upon  which  ground  the  Lord  commanded  them  to  be' 
cjrcumciseil. 

I  know  there  are  some,  and  very  holy  and  learned  also,  who 
think  that  if  any  godly  man  undertakes  to  be  as  a  father  to  an 
adopted  pagan  or  Indian,  that  such  a  one,  not  grown  up  to  yenra, 
is,  from  the  example  in  Gen.  svii.,  to  be  received  into  the  covenant 
of  the  church,  and  the  seal  of  it  i  and  I  cunfcM  I  yet  see  no  con* 
victing  argumotil  against  it,  if  it  could  be  proved  that  some  ser- 
vants bought  with  Abraham's  money  were  such,  and  were  under 
years  ;  but  I  see  m  yet  no  convicting  argument  for  this  assertion 
from  this  example,  and  therefore  I  stick  to  the  former  answer, 
'  and  see  no  reascm  from  any  rule  of  charity  but  to  believe  that 
all  those  in  Abraham's  family  were  either  visibly  godly  or  tho 
children  uf  such,  lo  whom  circumcision  belongs,  anil  conmquently 
might  ns  well  partake  of  church  membership  as  Abraham  him- 
•elf ;  which  sort  of  servants,  in  these  days,  may  as  well  be  odmil- 
I  ted  to  church  membership  without  fear  of  defiling  Ihe  church 
I  «  their  masters  themselves.  ^^ 

OhjteL  i.     If  uhildren  (say  you)  be  members,  then  all  chil-  I' 
dren,  gooil  and  Iiod,  must  be  received,  as  Jacob  and  Esau,  etc       I' 
Ant.     Why  not?     For  if  there  be  any  strength  in  this  argu-  I 
mem,  it  holds  us  strongly  against  the  admission  of  profeaaingls, 
Tiaiblo  believers:  whore,  though  all  are  externally  and  federalljl 


ll 


f  ftss 


MUEUSUIP   ( 


tboty,  yet  some,  jea,  many,  yea,  the  greatest  pari  of  such,  tsaj 
he  inwardly  bod,  and  as  profane  in  their  hearts  as  Esaui  tiii 
:  we  ibercforc  refuse  tUein  lo  be  church  members  b«cuiN 
nuuiy  of  ihem  may  be  inwardly  bad  ?  Verily,  there  mUDl  tha 
never  be  churcbes  of  God  in  ihis  world.  So  it  i^among  cbiMmi; 
they  arc  all  outwardly  boly,  yet  many  of  them  muy  be  inwitnU/ 
unholy,  like  £aau  ;  must  we  not,  therefore,  accept  them  to  tatu- 

'lolincss  i«  the  oiilj.gfouiid  of  admisajon  into  churcli  tpemKcrdiip. 

PTtprnjiJlj-  prnf.^i;ai.il^  33  jq  gfowD  persons.  Or  graciousIy  pronuHd 
inEo'lJieir  seed.  ' 

Heplg  I.  But  you  here  reply.  If  so,  then  they  aro  of  (he 
church  when  ihoy  are  grown  up,  and  profane  until  they  are  cast 
out ;  aiiil  to  take  in  profane  is  sinfuL  (Eiek.  xliv.) 

Am.  It  is  very  true ;  for  it  ia  herein  just  aa  it  is  in  a-l mining 
professing  believers ;  they  may  prove  profane,  and  coniinu«  io  in 
church  membership  until  ihey  are  cast  out ;  but  is  this  Uaerefon 
any  ground  lo  keep  out  those  who  are  personally  holy  by  their 
own  profession  ?  No,  verily  ;  why,  then  should  such  as  are  p*- 
rcnlally  and  federally  holy  be  kept  out  from  church  memberfhip 
because  tboy  may  prove  jirofane,  and  being  profane  must  renuun 
chureh  members  till  ihey  bo  cast  out. 

Jieptjf  2,  Hut  then  (you  say)  they  must  he  church  members 
tliough  their  parent«  themselves  and  the  whole  church  be  unwill- 
ing thereunto,  even  as  (sity  you)  a  man  ihat  marrieth  a  wromBii, 
her  children  must  be  his,  and  he  be  a  father  to  them,  though  be, 
and  she,  and  they  should  say  he  shall  not  he  a  father-in-law  U> 
them. 

An*.  This  similitude  of  marriage  doth  neither  prove  nor 
illustrate  the  thing;  for  the  relation  between  father  and  such 
children  is  absolute  anif  natural,  and  hence  continues  though 
tliey  say  he  shall  not  be  their  father,  and  though  he  profess  ho 
will  not ;  but  the  relation  founded  upon  church  coven.'uit  between 
member  and  member  is  pot  natur^il,  nor  only  and  always  absolute, 
but  also  conditional,  which  condition  not  being  kept,  the  relatioB 
may  be  and  is  usually  broken ;  for  look,  as  the  Jews  were  not  M 
absolutely  God's  people,  but,  if  they  did  in  time  reject  the  goep^ 
they  were  to  be  cast  off*,  and  indeed  are  i<o  at  this  day,  (Rom. 
U.  25;  Hosea  ii.  2;  Acta  xiii.  46,  51,}  so  it  is  with  all  Gen- 
tile churches,  and  the  members  thereof;  and  as  for  that  which 
you  last  say,  that  they  may  refuse  their  parents'  covenant  at  age 
aa  well  as  own  it,  and  so  may  members  go  out  at  pleasure,  which 
kit  ^sorder,  I  answer,  that  the  like  may  be  said  of  such 


THE    CHURCH   MKUBEUSUIF   OF    CHILDREN. 

1  by  pcrsoDal  profesgion,  fur  lliey  majr  renounce  their 
iianC  with  God  nnd  the  church :  one  may  do  so,  and  so 
may  twenty ;  yet,  though  ihis  he  wickedness  and  disorder,  yet 
the  cliurch  may  proceed  against  them,  and  so  it  may  against 
their  children,  who  aru  hound  lo  own  the  covenant  made  with 
God,  and  of  God  witli  them  in  their  parents,  as  well  as  any 
church  members  are  to  own  their  own  covenant  by  their  own 
personal  proreasion.  What  disorder,  therefore,  will  come  in  as 
ydu  conceive  (his  way,  will  come  in  by  your  dwi\  nay,  and  what  ■ 
course  you  ihould  take  to  heal  the  one,  by  the  same  you  may 
heat  the  other.  ( > 

O^ecl.  3.     If  children  (say  you)  be  members,  then  their  seodi  • 
successively,  until  they  he  eitlier  dissolved  or  excommunicated  [  I 
and  if  M,  then  what  churches  shall  wo  have? 

Ant.  I.     What  churches  shall  we  have?     Truly,  not  always 
churches  of  angels  and  snints,  but  mixed  with  many  chafly  hypo-  ' 
criles,  and  ofltimes  profane  persons.     But  still  I  say  this  objec- 
tion holds  as  Hrm  against  gathering  churches  of  visible  profess- 
ing believers  ;  for  God  knows  what  churches  we  may  have  of 
them,  even  heaps  of  hypocrites  and  jirofane  persons,  for  I  know 
not  what  can  give  us  hujtc  of  their  not  apostatizing,  but  only  Cioirs 
promise  to  be  a  Go<I  to  them  and  to  preserve  them ;  and  tnily 
the  siirac  promise  being  made  to  their  seed  gives  me  as  much  . 
ground  of  faith  to  hope  well  of  chuivhes  rising  out  of  the  seed  I 
of  the  gotlly,  as  oi  the  professing   parents  themselves.     I  know| 
one  nuCy  have  more  exjicriinenlal  charity  concerning  some  few 
professing  the  fear  of  Ood;  but  my  ehuruh  charily  is  equal  about 
them,  especially  considering  that  those  whom  God  receives  into 
church  covenant,  he  doth  not  only  lake  them  to  bo  a  peopl«  to 
him,  but  to  establish  them  lo  be  such,  viz.,  for  time  to  come. 
And  hence  God  is  said  lo  establish  his  covenant  with  Isaac,  not     ' 
Ishmacl,  who  was  to  be  rejected,  (Gen.  xvii.  19,)  and  God  is     ■ 
said  to  gather  (hem  into  covenant,  to  establish  them  to  be  a 
people,  both  young  and  old,  present  posterity  and  that  which  was 
to  come.  (Ucut.  xxix.  11-15.) 

i.  God  was  as  holy  and  as  exactly  requiring  holiness  from  the 
Jewish  church  as  well  as  from  Christian  churches:  now,  do  you 
think  that  tlie  covenant  which  then  wrapped  up  the  Jews'  ehil' 
drcn  into  church  membership  was  a  highway  of  prolaneoess  atid 
unholineu  in  the  members  thereof,  and  of  defiling  and  polluting 
God'i  clturch?  or  was  it  a  way  and  means  of  holiness,  and  Jo  kevp 
lliem  frora  being  profane?  To  afiirm  the  first  is  something  hla»- 
phumous  and  very  falftts.  for  it  is  expressly  said,  (Jer.  xiii.  1 1.) 
that "  as  Ute  girdle  cleaveiti  to  the  loins  of  ft  man,  so  he  Mused  ttn 


ft 


lll^JlBEHSHtl-   OF    CUILDBEK. 

whole  house  of  Iftrael  (not  grown  men  onlj)  to  clpsve  to 
that  they  might  be  to  him  a  people,  (which  was  by  mto 
and  for  s.  name,  for  a  prnue,  and  for  a  glory."     God's  iuiroF,fli 
praise,  was  the  end,  and  the  covenant  was  the  m^os  betrm 
Knd  therefore  it  was  no  way  or  means  of  unholiness  in  that  cbun 
bal  if  you  Haj  it  whs  a  means  of  holiness,  why  then  ehoaUM 
fear  [lie  polluting  of  churches  by  the  same  covenant,  i 
have  proved  wraps  in  our  seed  also?     Indeed,  they  djd  p 
univeraall;  profane  in  the  Jewish  church  ;  so  they  ninv  in  i 
but  shall  man's  wickedness  in  abusing  God's  grace,  and  fom 
his  cwvenant.  tie  the  hands  or  heart  of  God's  free  grace  fi 
taking  suck  into  covenant?     What  though  some  did  not  belienfl 
BAiih  the  apostle,  (Rom.  iii.  3,  4,)  "Shall  their  unbelief  maks  All 
faith  of  God  without  effect  ?     God  forbid."  -■ 

3.  Suppose  they  do  prove  profane  and  corrupt  cliurcliesi 

'even  then,  when  ihcy  are  corrupt,  they  are  such  cbnrches  wl 
ordinarily  God  gathers  out  his  elect,  and  out  of  wbich  (till  pi 
are  gathered,  or  these  wholly  rejected)  there  can  not  be  espc 
ordinarily  any  salvation;  tor  so  saitb  nur  Saviour,  "  S 
of  the  Jews,"  (John  iv.  23.)  even  in  that  very  corrupt  and  " 
estate  of  the  church  that  ever  it  was  in. 
p  ~  Ohject.  4.     If  cliildren  be  members,  then  thoy  roust  c 
I  the  Lord's  supper :  for  you  know  no  difference  between  n 
and  member  in  point  of  privilege,  unless  they  be  under  soi 
Ant,  1.     Yes,  verily,  there  is  a  plnin  diflerence  betweer 
ber  and  member  (though  professing  believers)  in  point  of  f 
lege,  Ihougii  they  lie  under  no  sin;  for  a  man   may  speak  t 
prophesy  in  the  churulij_not  women-     A  company  nf  pn™  a 

>  make  a  church,  and  so  receive  in  and  cost  out  of  the  church,  I 

1  ttflLwomen,  though  prol'essing  saints, 

^•^37  All  grown  men  are  not  to  be  admitted  (though  profesi 

I  befievers)  to  the  Lord's  sujiper :  my  reason  is,  a  man  may  i 
lieve  in  Christ,  and  yet  be  very  ignorant  of  the  nature,  use,  iT 
ends  of  ihe  Lord's  supper :  now,  such  may  be  bnptiBcd  as  m, 
as  ever  faith  appears,  (Mark  xvi.  16.)  but  ihey  may  dM  fi 
admitted  to  the  Lord's  3upj>er,  because  they  will  be  gtiilty  oftW 
body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  if  they  through  their  ignoraitca  ctf ' 

\  not  discern   the   Lord's  bmiy.      I   know  no  reason  but   igiHmurt 

'■pereons  may  he  as  well  suspended  from  the  use  of  this  privjl^e, 
though  they  be  true  believers,  (for  faith  may  consist  with  mu^ 
ignorance.)  us  well  as  dtsimeied  persons,  who,  notwiihstondiiu, 
may  be  believers  also. 

'■  '^.  If,    therefore,   children    be  able   to  examine    themselvn 
'    land  discern  the  Lord's  body,  they  may  then  eat;  and   h«t«U 


THE  CBORCQ  UEKBEBSHIF   ( 

iIiltc  is  no  dlfTurCDCC  in  this  privilege  between  member  and 
mijmbtir. 

i.  Children  not  being  usually  able  to  examine  Ibemselves,  Dor 
discera  ilic  Lord's  liody,  hence  ihey  are  not  to  be  admitted  to 
the  u^  of  tliiB  privilege  i  jmd  yet  they  may  be  such  members  |  ' 
m  may  enjoy  the  beoelit  of  other  privileges,  even  that  of  baptism ;  i 
tor  baptism  seals  up  our  Hrst  entrance  into  the  covenant.     This  J 
first  ontranee  is  not  alivays  by  personal  profeasion  of  faith,  but  ty? 
God's  promise  of  nrirkiiig,  or  ol  voucbsaling  tbe  means  o(  work- 
ing of  it :  now,  children  (as  is  proved)  being  under  this  covenant, 
(as  we  see  all  the  posterity  also  of  Abraham  was,)  hence,  though 
children  can  not  profess  tulh,  nor  tictualty  examine  tbemselves, 
yel  ihcy  may  reeeive,  and  must  receive,  baptism,  being  already 
under  Uod's  covenant  i  but  because  the  Lord's  supper  doth  not 
seal  up  this  first  entrance  and  first  right  to  the  covenant,  but  our 
growth  and  fruition  of  the  covenant,  hence  this  act  on  our  part 
ii  required  to  participate  in  this,  which  the  apostle  calls  self- 
examination,  and  the  act  of  talcing  and  eating  Christ,  and  of 
dis<^«ming  the  Lord's  body,  and  of  doing  ilia  in  remembrance 
of  Christ,  which  every  bapiized  person  and  church  member  is  not 
always  able  to  do.     A  child  may  receive  a  promise  aforohand  of 
a  rich  estate  giveti  him,  and  this  promise  sealed  up  to  him,  his 
father  receiving  it  for  him;  but  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  be  put 
to  the  actual  improvement  and  fruition  of  that  estate  until  he  ia 
grown  up,  understands  himself,  and  knows  how  to  do  it :  so  it 
is  here;  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  requires  ability,  -- 
1.  To  take  Christ  as  our  own  ;  2.  To  eat  Ctirisl ;  that  b,  to  lake     " 
fruition  of  him  i  the  which  acts  of  faith  God  doth  not  require  of 
all  those  immediately  who  are  wrapped  up  in  covenant  with  him. 

Ohjtct.  1.  But  here  you  say  thai  that  examination  (1  Cor. 
xi.)  is  rciuired  of  all  that  be  members,  and  that  at  all  limts,  a< 
well  as  at  their  first  coming  to  the  Lord's  supper. 

Ah*.  This  examination  is  indeed  required  of  all  those  mem- 
b«r«  who  should  partake  of  tlie  I^ord's  supper,  but  it  is  not  re- 
quired (as  you  seem  to  say)  of  every  one  to  moke  him  a  member, 
so  thai  none  can  be  a  member  but  him  that  is  able  to  cxamina 
himself;  fur  God's  covenant  to  work  faith,  and  to  give  powvr  to 
examine  uiie's  self  iU\erward,  may  moke  some  as  truly  members 
as  those  who  are  able  to  act  and  express  their  faith.  Now,  I 
have  proved  that  God's  covenant  is  albrehand  given  to  children ; 
and  til  give  tliem  the  ai-nl  of  tlieir  first  entrance  into  it  many 
yirors  aller  is  as  vile  a  thing  as  for  them  that  are  able  and  fit  to 
examine  themselves  to  have  this  saeramenl  of  the  Lord's  supper 
d«niod  or  delayed  till  many  yean  after. 


I 

I 


532  THE  carncH  uf^mbeieship  of  childrem. 

Object.  2.     But  you  say.  It  is  left  lo  everj"  one's 
loexiuniiie  himseir,  iiol  ilint  others  should  examine  Uicm,  ud 
l^onsequently,  ir  children  be  members,  tlien  it  must  be  left  upm 
their  conscienc^e. 

Ant.  We  know  in  oar  own  consdcnces  that  children  [Ktalf 
can  not  essmine  thcmselvee ;  now,  if  the  elders  and  the  clmrdi 
bound  to  gee  Christ's  rules  observed  by  otbers,  aod  if  this  eu 
inniion  be  the  rule  that  all  must  walk  by  who  participate  ben, 
then  ihey  must  not  suffer  such  young  ones,  no,  nor  perwn^ 
grown  up  and  enli;red  in  by  personal  jirofcssion,  to  i-eceive  ihi< 
seal  as  ihey  know  are  unable  thus  to  do.  I  think,  if  chorcbe 
should  degenerate  in  these  days,  this  course  of  discipline  sboold 
be  attended  (especially  by  the  elders)  toward  anj  of  their  mem- 
bers, which  way  soever  tliey  have  entered,  whether  by  their  on 
or  by  their  [larents'  covenant.  And  I  have  oft  feared  that  there 
is  some  need  already  of  it,  even  toward  some  who  enter  by  ihett 
own  covenant,  and  may  have  faith,  but  are  miserablv  to  seek  in 
the  nature,  use,  and  ends  of  the  Lord's  sopper,  and  consequently 
unfit  to  discern  of  Christ's  body,  and  so  to  come  to  that  sacn- 

^~Obfect.  5.  If  children  may  be  members,  and  yet  not  come  lo 
\  the  Lord's  supper,  then  it  may  come  to  pass  that  a  whole  churth 
may  be  a  church,  and  yet  not  have  the  Lord's  supper,  or  ougfat 
not  lo  have  it. 

Am.  1.     So  there  may;  for  a  church  may  be  a  true  cJiarek,  1 
1  and  yet  want  the  benelit  of  some  one  or  more  of  God's  oM-  1 
fnances,  sometimes  pastors,  someiimes  elders,  sometimea  seak. 
"2,  A  church  of  professiog  believers  may  depinerate,  and  tm 
profane,  and  sottish,  and  so  have  no  just  right  (o  the  seals;  aa 
their  officers  may  leave  them,  and  so  have  no  nse  of  tlie  seab|.  J 
yet  I  suppose  it  is  a  church  of  Christ  still,  though  degeneratflt.  J 
though  unfit  to  enjoy  seals  :  will  you  therefore  think  the  way  of  I 
their  membership  unlawful,  vii.,  by  professing  their  faith,  b»- 1 
cause   sucli  a  rare  thing  as  this   may  happen  ?     Why,  thei^    , 
should  you  think  the  way  of  children's  membership  unlawful, 
because  of  the  like  rarity  in  such  a  dark  and  gloomy  state  at 
them  as  you  mention  ? 

Ob/ect.  6.     If  children  be  members,  then  there  will  be  many 
the  church  who  arc  not  saints  by  calling,  nor  faithful  in  ChriM 
Jesus,  which  ought  not  to  be  ii'  the  church  could  see  it ;  but  these 
may  be  loo  plainly  seen. 

Am.  1.     I  do  think  it  is  true  that  poor  children  may  be  eni 
e  looked  upon  with  loo  many  dejected  thoughts  of  unbelief,  de- 
spising of  them  as  children  of  wrath  by  nature,  and  not  with  sueh 


I 


THE  CFiDRcn  uEMB&n&niE-  op  ciui.drek.  £33 

high  ihoughu  of  fuith  ns  children  and  sons  of  Godby  promifie, 
as  I  have  rihonn-  And  I  ihink  herein  is  our  great  sin,  as  it  naa 
in  Christ's  own  disciples,  who  were  the  lirst  that  we  read  of  that 
would  not  have  little  diildren  brought  unio  him,  for  which  ho 
rebuked  ibem,  showing  their  privilege;  and  for  wunt  of  which 
faith  in  God's  promise  about  our  children,  certainly  God  smites 
nnd  forsakes  many  of  our  children. 

2.  If,  therefore,  yo\i  think  that  church  members  must  consist 
only  of  suints  by  calling,  so  that  your  meaning  in.  such  saints  as 
are  so  by  o'unVBRl  mill  |)SFsotia]  profession,  Trom  the  call  of  the 
gospel,  are  only  to  be  church  members,  this  is  an  error  i  for, 
1.  You  know  that  they  who  define  a  church  to  be  a  number  of 
visible  saints,  they  usually  put  this  phrase  in,  "ruid  their  ««ed," 
who  may  nut  profess  faith  perhaps  as  their  (alhers  do,  and  yon 
shall  And  that  the  Israel  of  God.  under  the  Old  Testament,  aro 
all  of  them  said  to  be  adopted,  (Rom.  is.  4,^  chosen,  nod  callotl, 
(Is.  xli.  H,  9,)  and  fuithful.  (Is.  i.  21,)  and  yet  we  know  they 
were  not  all  so  by  per&onal  profession,  but  in  rea|>eci  of  their 
joint  federation  and  ihe  outwi^rd  cnv^p/ini  of  God  with  them.  Ji_ 
The  oiilward  covenant  is  not  alwaya  flrsl  enlorpd  into  by  pemHuJi 
prof^ion  of  faithj  bat  ^tiodV  coT^nwit  of  promise  to  work,l 
or  to  use  the  mes^a  lo  work  faith,  ilence  it  undeniably  followsl 
that  as  many  may  be  in  church  covenant  before  they  profess  faithi 
personally,  so  many  mny  be  members  uf  the  church  without  Ihisi  - 
profession  of  faith  ^for  this  covenant  of  working  faith  (as  hathi 
been  formerly  explained)  doth  not  only  belong  to  the  Jews,  but 
to  Gentile  churches  aUo,  and  believers,  as  hutU  been  proved, 
and  might  further  be  confirmed. 

Object,  Hut  nay  you.  If  we  saw  hypocrites,  we  were  lo  cast 
thf^m  out  as  well  as  profane  persons  ;  and  we  see  no  graoo  in 
many  children,  and  therefore  they  roust  not  be  received  in. 

Ant.  1.  If  you  see  children  of  whom  you  can  not  say  that 
they  are  faithful  personally,  yet  ibey  may  be  faithful  federally, 
(as  hath  been  «howed,)  for  ihey  may  lie  under  God's  covenant 
of  begetting  faith  by  some  means  in  them,  and  then  you  arc  tiot 
to  cast  them  out,  but  accept  thom,  as  God  doth. 

2.  The  children  of  godly  jiarents,  though  they  do  not  manifest 
faith  in  the  goepel,  yet  they  are  to  be  acconnted  of  God's  church 
until  they  positively  reject  the  gospel,  eitlier  in  themselves  or  in 
their  parents ;  and  therefore  God  did  never  go  about  to  cast  ofT 
the  Jews  and  their  seed,  until  they  put  forth  positive  unbi-lief ; 
the  Lord  promised  to  give  them  the  means  of  fnilh,  and  did  so; 
and  when  Christ  was  come,  and  the  gospel  sent  first  unto  them 
fur  their  gnud,  the  Lord  herein  fulfilled  liis  coveuant  mercy,  ai 


834  THK   CMrRCH   MEMIlEIlsniP    OF    COILDREX. 

towarJ  his  beloved  people ;  bnt  when  they  rejeciod  these  ni«w 
Rnd  cast  otr  Christ  mid  his  gvsiwl,  ihcn  (Bom.  xi.)  Otrj 'at 
broken  otf,  and  doI  before.  Now,  hjpocrites  are  such  lu  pirjles 
Chrkt  in  words,  and  jet  deny  Christ  in  deed.  (TiniB  L  U 
i  Tim.  iii.  5.)  IlencD  they  are  such  as  posiliTelj'  refuse  Orili 
hence  the  case  of  children  io  whom  no  positive  tinbeUe£  BlitMB 
is  not  the  same  with  this  of  hy|X)crites  or  prtilaae  perMOS:  ai 
wlivti  young  children  ^hall  grow  positively  sach,  I  know  nM  W 
tliuy  may  be  dealt  with  a^  any  ollter  members  for  any  snd  " 
ofiV-nse. 

Thus  you  see  an  auswer  to  your  six  objections.  Inlfaeoi 
of  your  pniier  tliere  are  two  qucKlions,  wbirh  I  suppose  maj  Ml 
a  little  trouble  agatiist  their  baptism  and  luctuberghip.  To  0 
briefly.  , 

Qufttion  I,  What  good  (say  you)  b  it  eitlter  for  a  win 
or  an  elect  child,  till  he  be  cou verted,  to  be  in  the  cfaurd?  « 
what  good  may  any  have  by  being  in  the  cburcb,  till  tlteya 
pTO&t  by  what  lliey  enjoy? 

An*.  1.  The  apostle  puts  the  like  case,  and  gives  yM  n 
•n^wor,  (Rom.  iii.  1,  2,)  "What  advantage  hath  tlie  Jew?  ni 
what  profit  is  there  of  circumcision?"  What  use  or  profit  onU 
the  infants  then  make  of  their  church  covenant,  membership.  W 
■eal.  who  understood  none  of  these  things  ?  Do  joa  tbiak  Ifct 
Lord  exposed  his  holy  ordinances  then  unto  contempt,  and  ii 
more  careful  that  they  may  be  proRtably  used  now  ?  Was  tlxM 
BO  good  by  circumcision  ?     Yea,  saith  the  apostle,  mucb  eray 

2.  What  profit  is  it  to  persons  grown  up  to  years,  and  ytt 
secretly  hypocrites,  who  enter  into  the  church  by  profeaskA  «f 
the  faith  ?  You  will  say  there  is  good  and  profit  in  re^^pect  of  tin 
privileges  Ihemgclves,  but,  they  abusing  them,  they  had,  in  thn 
respect,  better  have  been  without  them,  because  they  bring 
hereby  upon  Ihema^lves  greater  condemnation.  The  same  say  I 
of  children,  whom  God  receives  into  his  church  by  promise  and 
covcimnt  of  doing  them  good,  although  at  present  ihey  may  a 
be  so  sensible  of  this  good. 

3.  To  speak  plainly,  the  good  ihey  get  by  being  thus  enriched 
is  wonderful.  And  here  there  is  more  need  of  a  treatise  than 
of  a  letter,  to  clear  up  the  benefits  from  all  scruples  arising  by 
being  in  outward  cofenanl  in  uhurch  fellowship,  even  unto  in- 
fants. I  confess  I  find  little  said  by  writers  upon  this  subject, 
and  I  believe  the  doubts  against  children's  baptism,  as  they  ansa 
.by  blindness  in  this  particular,  so  I  think  that  God  suffers  that 
ejiinion  to  lake  place,  that  by  such  darkness  he  may  bring  oat 


THE   CfiCRCa   MEVBERSBIF   OP   CBILDSEK.  68S 


light  ill  ihi.t  particular.  I  will  only  hiiil  unlo  you  sume  few  of 
my  many  tliougliU,  which  liave  long  exeruiBed  me  for  many 
years  in  this  thing.  The  goo<l  hy  uhiMren's  membership,  espe- 
ciftlly  when  sealed,  it  in  four  things. 

1.  In  rcflpect  of  God.  God  ehows  hereby  the  richea  of  his 
gritce  toward  them,  in  taking  them  to  be  bis  people ;  in  adopting 
them  to  he  hia  children;  in  preventing  them  with  many  gpeciul 
promises  aforehond  of  doing  them  good ;  by  all  which  the  Lord 
doth,  sa  it  were,  prevent  t^alon,  in  wooing  their  hearts,  as  it 
were,  so  soon  to  draw  ihem  to  him  before  he  can  actually  stir 
to  draw  their  souls  from  him.  So  tliM  I  be«eccli  you,  consider : 
suppose  they  can  not  as  yet  understand,  and  so  make  pro6t  by 
all  this ;  yet  is  it  not  good  fur  them,  or  for  any  of  us,  to  partake 
of  God's  grace  before  we  know  how  to  make  use  of  it?  Is  it 
Dot  good  for  God  to  be  good  to  them  thai  are  evil  ?  Is  it  not 
good  for  God  to  glorify  and  make  manifest  his  grace  to  man, 
though  man  knows  not  how  to  make  use  of  his  grace  ?  Wee  it 
not  rich  grace  fur  Christ  to  wash  Peter's  feet,  and  yet  he  not 
know  at  present  what  it  meant,  only,  ($ailb  Christ,)  "  thou  shnit 
know  it  afterward  "  ?  Is  it  not  good  for  God  to  give  life  to  us, 
and  to  let  us  be  horn  in  such  and  such  a  place  of  the  gospel 
where  it  u  preached,  and  to  lay  in  mercy  aforchand  for  us, 
before  we  know  bow  to  be  thankl'ul,  or  know  how  to  use  any  of 
these  outward  mercie«?  And  is  it  no  mercy  or  favor  to  have 
so  much  spiritual  mercy  bestowed  on  children  aforuhand,  befoi^ 
they  am  be  thankful  or  make  use  thereof?  (Dent  vii.  6,  7.) 
The  choosing  of  thcra  to  be  his  people  above  all  other  peopl^ 
(which  you  know  was  from  the  womb,)  it  is  called  God'a  settiiig 
his  love  upon  them,  and  the  reason  of  this  love  (ver.  8)  is 
Buid  to  be  because  God  loved  them ;  this  love  was  not  electing 
and  peculiar  love,  (for  thousands  of  these  perished  and  went  (o 
hell,)  but  it  was  his  external,  adopting  tove,  to  choose  them  to  be 
his  people,  and  to  improve  all  means  for  their  good,  and  to  give 
them  Ihr  good  of  all  those  means  uiileas  [hey  refuse,  and  Ut  give 
indetinilely  among  them,  and  particularly  lu  many  of  tlietn,  such 
hearts  as  that  they  shall  not  bo  able  to  refuse  the  good  of  those 
means,  (as  halh  been  showed  formerly;)  this  is  love;  great 
love  and  mercy  ;  nut  shown  or  promised  to  any  who  are  not  of 
the  visible  church  tlirougliuut  the  whole  world.  By  which  God 
is  glorified,  and  let  him  be  so,  though  we  can  not  see  how  to 
proAt  by  it  when  it  first  breaks  ouU  Have  not  you  profited 
much  by  coni^idering  God's  preventing  grace,  long  before  you 
understood  how  to  moke  use  of  it  ?  Hath  not  God  received 
much  glory  A-om  yoa  for  it  ?     Ilalh   this  grace  then,  think  jrou, 


S36 


:  carRcn  membebsoip  of   citildruc 


i 


been  anproBtabty  epent  on  GroU'.s  part  ?  Ko, 
IB  the  mme  here ;  David  blesseth  God  for  being  bis  God  fna  I 
hia  mother's  bellj.  and  from  the  womb,  (Ps.  xxii.  9,  10,)  »Di  I 
God's  inni^e  is  shown  through  ibis  expression.   (Is.  xlfi.  3.) 

i.  There  is  touch  good  hereby  in  respect  of  the  pikrenb;  i 
suppose  the  children  can  not  prulit  by  it,  yet  ^reold  may;  d 
it  ia  in  respect  of  ihem  very  much  that  God  looks  upon  Aa  | 
children,  thus  to  receive  them  into  rovenanL  (Deot.  i».  37.)  1 
For,  1,  Parents  may  hereby  see  and  wonder  at  the  ricba  <i    \ 
God's  grace,  to  l)ecome  a  God  not  only  to  Ihetuselvts,  but  U>  tikt 
in  their  need  also,  whose,  good  ihey  prise  tis  i 
if  dune  lo  themselves  ;  hence  Abraham  tell  down  upon  bis  f*n    i 
adoring  God,  when  he  heard  of  this  covenant.  (Gen.  xviL)    !y« 
also  bow  Moses'  nggrnvnlcii  this  lave  in  tiie  eyes  of  all  that  Ind 
eyes  lo  see.  (Deui.  x.  14,  15.)     2.  Hereby  God    gives  psr«it 
some   comforiuble    hope  of  their  children's    salvation,  becauw 
thty  be  wiibin  iho  pale  of  the  visible  church  ;  for  as  oat  of 
Uie  visible  church  (where  the  ordinary  means  of  salvation  be] 
there  is  ordinarily  no  salvation.  (Acts  ii.  47.)      So,  if  chililrca 
were   not  of  Christ's  visiiile   church  and    kingdom,   we  could 
not  hope  for  th<:ir  salvation,  no  more  than  of  pagani>.  or  Turktta 
for  if  they  be  without  God,  ihey  are  without  hope,  (Eph.  ii.  l^ijl 
and  to  be  without  hope  of  such,  to  whom  God  hatb  made  mimt 
prombes  of  salvation  not  given  lo  pagans,  nor  proper  t 
bam,  is  very  hard,  and  horrid  to  imagine  ;  for  the  promise  ru^B 
universflUy,  that  "  the  seed  of  the  upright  (wbetiier  Jews  or  Guil 
tiles)  shall  be  blessed."  (Ps.ciii.  1,  2.     Prov.  xj.  7.)      3.  Heti 
by  parents  are  stirred  up  Ihe  more  earnestly  to  pray  for  li 
because  God's  covenant  and  promise  is  so  large  toward  them,  il 
which  prayer  looks,  and  by  which  it  wrestles  with   God ;  e    ' 
hence  we  find  that  Moses  and  others,  they  use  ibis  Arguma 
m  their  prayers:   "O  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,"  ei& 
\.  Hereby  they  may  not  only  hope  and  pray,  but  are  encourmged 
lo  believe  concerning  their  children  and  the  rest  of  thoae  who 
are  in  covenant  among  ihem,  that  God  will  do  theoi    good,  m 
they  conclude  mercy  to  the  remnant,  forglviness  of  their  sins, 
with  faith  upon  this  ground,  "  Thou  wilt  remember  tho  truUi  to 
Jacob,  and  thy  mercy  lo  Abraham,  sworn  unio  our  fathers  in 
days  of  old."  (Micuh  vii.  18,  20.)     This,  iudtfed,  is  the  children's 
faith  for  themselves  and  their  children ;   but  so  it  uiay  be  a 
ground  of  parents'  faith.     And  if  we  pray  for  our  children,  why 
should  we  doubt  (leaving  only  secrets  lo  God)  if  we  see   Uiem 
die  before  they  reject  the  gospel  positively  ?     I  see  no  reason  totM 
any  man  to  doubt  of  the  salvation  of  his  child  if  he  dies,  or  U 


!  cncRcn  MEMBEnsnip  of  childeen. 


537 


God  will  not  do  g^Kid  to  Lis  cLild  in  time  if  lie  lives.  5.  Thu 
Aiirri  up  tlicir  bcarU  to  be  the  more  sincerely  Iioly,  and  keep  in 
iviih  God,  because  of  tlieir  children ;  iiDd  to  educate  them  with 
more  rare  and  ivatchfulncss,  becnuse  ttiey  are  the  Lard's  children 
lis  well  as  theirs ;  they  are  not  common,  but  holy  Tcssela,  and 
therefore  let  them  see  that  ihcy  be  not  defiled ;  and  hence  we 
find  that  when  God  exhorts  to  any  duly  of  holiness  in  Scripture, 
be  oft  makes  this  the  ground  of  il,  - 1  am  your  God  ; "  and  hence 
God  aggravates  their  sin  in  ofTering  Iheir  children  to  Molech, 
(Eiek.  xvi.,)  because  they  were  his  children,  that  should  have 


been  better  used. 

3.  In  respect  of  ll)«rasel7« 
special  means  to  prevent  s' 


a  the  good  is  very  great.  1.  It  is  A 
.  (Deut.  xxii.)  I  make  this  cove-  \^ 
nant,  not  only  with  him  that  is  present,  but  with  your  seed  also, 
who  are  not  here,  (ver.  15,]  lest  there  should  be  among  yon 
man  or  woman,  family  or  tribe,  whose  heart  turns  away  from 
God,  and  test  there  should  be  a  root  of  gall  and  wormwood ;  and 
indeed  it  mightily  works  on  the  heart  to  think,  Shall  T,  whom 
God  bath  chosen  to  be  his,  be  my  own,  or  be  the  devil's,  or  be 
my  lusts' ?  ete.  2.  Ilis  a  strong  motive  and  engagement  upon 
them  to  forsake  sin,  even  the  uncircitmcision  and  sinof  their  hearts,X 
u  is  evident,  DeuL  x.  15, 1 6.  The  Lord  bad  a  delight  to  choose 
the  seed  of  your  fathers,  even  you,  to  be  his  people,  as  it  b  this 
dfty  :  what  follows  ?  "  Therefore  circumcise  the  foreskin  of  your 
hearts,  and  be  no  more  slilf  necked.  3.  It  is  a  special  help,  as  to 
avert  their  hearts  from  sin,  so  to  convert  and  lum  them  to  God,v/ 
and  to  make  them  look  toward  God,  that  he  would  turn  thorn,  ^ 
when  perhaps  they  arc  without  any  hope  (in  other  respects)  of 
mercy,  or  of  being  able  by  any  means  they  can  use  to  turn  them- 
selves; this  is  evident.  Acts  iii.  19,  with  ver.  25.  Repent  and 
be  couvcrled,  for  you  are  the  children  of  the  covenant  which  ] 
God  made  with  our  fathers  ;  this  draws  their  hearts,  when  they 
see  how  God  calls  them  to  return.  (Jer.  iii.  23.)  Come  uiiio 
ue,  ye  bncluliding  children,  etc :  we  come  unto  thee,  for  thou 
art  the  Lord  our  God,  When  backsliding  Ephraim  could  not 
convert  himself,  be  cries  unto  God,  '^  O,  turn  me,  and  I  shall  be 
turned,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God,"  (Jer.  xxxi.  18,)  which 
places  can  not  be  meant  of  being  their  God  only  by  internal  cov- 
enant, in  giving  lo  them  the  special  benefits  of  the  covenant,  for 
tbon  iliey  should  bo  in  covenant  with  God,  and  faave  remission 
of  all  (heir  sins,  etc.,  before  they  were  turned,  or  before  faith  j 
■nd  therefore  it  is  meant  of  being  a  God  in  outward  and  external  ^ 
church  covenant,  whieb  is  no  small  motive  and  loadstone  to 
believe.    And  although  many  do  not  believe,  and  will  not  b« 


t 


■in*, 

abt  1 

e  111  I 

rate-  L 


larawmr  or  chilubcx. 

jel  llu*  coTCiMut  ii  »  Ugb  priviip|^  and  great  CHf- 
in  iurif  u>  dtmw  to  God,  ibooglt  manj  beli«vc  not ;  Mid  itm 
_  ftpoGlle  >ailli  thai  tW  pnrikge  of  cIm:  Jews  ia  great  ni  kiii^ 
God'aanirlri{«likli  cmiuub  God's  corenani)  cutnatiued  IpUxa 
ibougU  guiim:  believe  nol,  wkich  unbelief  makes  out  {)to  »A| 
the  Euth  of  God,  i.  e^  God'e  prooiiM  tir  cotciuuu,  of  wmw  tSw, 
or  ui  ineffectual  and  fruitier  covenant ;  for  [bis  wonl  of  G«ti 
coTenant  eIibII  take  lome  effect  lUDoag  some  Hicli  as  are  id  k ;  alirt 
therefore  u  a  privilege,  though  many  perish,  as  ia  eridcni.  Km 
ii.  1,  &  -L  It  is  a  special  lueaus  of  binding  them  last  to  Gd 
when  lliej  are  turned.  Jer.  xiiu  11,  **  As  the  girdle  deanA 
Biito  a  man,  »o  haTe  I  caused  the  whole  bouse  of  Istael  la  dam 
nnto  tnc,  that  they  maj  be  for  a  name  and  glory."  Dein.  lU- 
SO,  "Thou  shall  cleave  ualo  him,  because  hf  is  thy  Ufe, 
fengtkof  ihydays;"  he  was  not  their  life  spirituollj  and  si 
(for  many  thus  exiiorted  were  dead  and  in  their  sins.)  hut 
•rally,  or  iu  outward  covcnanL  5.  If  they  aball  fontkx 
brenk  loose  from  Gud,  nnd  from  the  bond  of  his  covenaal, 
ha»u  (as  much  a*  in  ihem  lies)  cast  themselves  oat  of 
luuit  by  their  own  itertiiUousoe&s  and  breach  of  ooveDanl,  lliit 
one  would  think  tiuw  there  is  no  more  hope,  yel  it  is  a  tpvciil 
mooiM  to  encoumge  their  hearts  to  return  Hgaiti,  even  when  tlify 
seem  tu  be  utterly  casl  off;  and  therefore  it  is  said,  (Jer.  lii.  1,> 
"Tlmugh  ihou  nusi  committed  whoredom  witb  maay  lovers 
(wheruby  ihc  covenant  wus  broken,)  yet  returo  uato  mm;'  fO, 
(Deul.  iv.,)  if  when  you  are  BCaiiered  among,  the  naiiaoKOod 
shall  serve  wood  and  stone,  and  be  in  great  trihulaiion.  if  from 
tbcncc  thou  seek  the  Lord  thy  God,  tliuu  shah  fiiid  bitn,  he  will 
not  forsake  thee  ;  and  what  is  the  reason  of  it  ?  viz.,  his  rcmeia* 
brunce  of  the  covenant  with  tbeir  fathers,  for  so  it  is  Deui.  iv. 
27-31.  But  I  forbear  to  name  more  such  things  as  thes«  which 
Gome  by  outward  covenant  to  incliurched  members. 

4.  In  respect  of  others  their  good  is  very  great ;  for,  1.  Now 
they  nuiy  enjoy  the  special  watch  and  care  of  the  whole  church, 
which  otherwise  they  must  want.  2.  They  hereby  have  the  mot« 
fervent  prayers  of  others  for  their  good ;  nnd  hence  (Rom.  ix. 
IS)  we  see  how  Paul  upon  this  ground  had  great  seal  iti  his 
prnyers  for  the  Jevrs,  not  only  because  his  countrymen,  but 
especiully  because  to  them  did  belong  the  adoption  and  coTeuanta^ 
and  tliey  had  grat^ious  fulheri;,  etc.  So,  ( Ps.  Ixjcxiic.  49.)  "  Lord. 
remember  thy  former  loving  kindnesses,  which  are  «worn  to  David, 
in  truth."  And  hence  we  see  Moses  oft  pleads  nnd  prevails  wilt 
God  in  prayer  for  the  ninning  TsriLcliles,  vie.,  "0,  remember 
AbrtduuD]  Isaac,  and  Jitcub.'' 


THE   CHLRCH  UEllBERSHir   OF   CHILDREN.  53ft 

Now,  I  pray  you,  lay  all  these  things  together,  and  then  see 
whether  you  have  any  cause  to  say,  What  profit  is  there  by 
coTEnant  and  church  membership  of  persons  not  yet  able  to 
profess  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ? 

Quett.  2.  You  say,  when  fumilics  were  ehurchea,  all  of  the 
fmnily  were  of  the  chorch,  and  when  a  nation  was  a  church,  all , 
that  were  of  that  nation  were  of  that  church  ;  but  now,  believers  - 
being  mailer  of  the  church,  what  if  none  were  admitted  till  they 
can  hold  forth  visible  faith?  would  not  many  of  these  things  tra 
more  clear? 

Ant.     In  these  wonlit  there  is  a  threefold  mistake. 

1.  That  all  of  the  family  and  nation  in  former  limes  were  of 
the  church ;  thi»  is  false ;  for  Gkxl  never  took  any  to  be  bis 
church  but  OS  they  were  believers,  al  least  externally,  in  that 
nation.  I  say  believers ;  which  either  are  professed  believers, 
or  promised  believers,  such  as  by  outward  covenant  shall  have 
the  means  to  be  made  believers  in  that  nation ;  and  hence  you 
have  heard  that  the  nation  of  the  Jews  stood  by  faith,  and  were 
broken  off  by  uubelief ;  and  if  any  rejected  the  rovenant,  as  Ish- 
mael  and  Esau,  they  were  not  of  thni  church,  though  they  did 
and  might  dwell  in  that  nation,  as  doubtless  thousands  did. 

1),  You  think  that  visible  personal  faith  only  makes  the  church, 
and  members  of  it ;  which  is  an  error,  as  may  appear  from  miuty 
things  nirciidy  said;  for  children  may  be  in  God's  account  pro- 
fessors of  the  faith  parentally  as  well  as  personally ;  i.  c^  in  the 
profession  of  their  parents  as  well  a«  in  their  own.  And 
hence  yon  shall  find  that  the  covenant  God  entered  into  with  tlTe 
parents  of  church  members  i>ersonally,  the  children  are  said  to 
have  that  covenant  made  wiih  Ihem  many  hundrnl  years  al^r. 
See,  for  (his  purpwe,  among  hundreds,  tliese  few  scriptures, 
Ilnggai  ii.  A.  In  ilaggais  time  God  is  said  to  make  n  rovenant 
with  then  llien  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt,  (which  was  not 
liersonally,  but  par«nlally;)  so,  {Hos.  xii.  4,  A,}  when  God  «n- 
h-red  into  covenant  with  Jacob  al  Bcihel.  God  is  sakl  to  speak 
with  us  who  lived  many  years  atlcr;  and  hence  llie  children 
many  years  after  challenge  God's  covenant  with  them,  which  w«< 
made  with  their  fathers  for  them.  (Micah  vii.  19,  20.)  Hence, 
nUo,  those  children  ure  said  to  come  to  Christ  who  were  not 
able  to  come  themselves,  but  only  were  brought  in  the  arms  of 
Others  lo  Christ.  It  is  a  known  thing  among  men,  that  a  father 
may  receive  a  gift  or  legacy  given  to  him  and  his  hoirs,  and  he 
anil  bis  heirs  arc  liound  to  perform  the  condition  of  the  covenant 
■nd  promise  by  which  it  b  conveyed,  and  that  the  child  doth  lhi« 
in  his  father. 


610 


THE   CBtTBCn   USMBERSHIP    OF    CHILDBBir. 


I 


f*  ^.  You  think  that  if  men  aoly  grown  up  and  able  to  prafai  | 
fUtb  ahould  be  oT  the  church,  then  all  tltinga  would  be  d 
about  children.  Truly,  I  believe  the  quite  contrary,  upon  tlit  I 
grounds  before  laid  donn ;  for,  1.  Hereby  pollation  of  ibe  duntk  I 
shall  Dot  be  aToided,  but  rather  introduced,  to  exclude  cbiUna  1 
from  a  holy-making  covenant,  as  ve  have  proved,  i.  ilen^  1 
that  good  and  benefit  of  their  covenant  should  be  lo^t  (not  gaind)  1 
by  excluding  them  oat  of  covenant  unLi(  they  can  personally  pf»  I 
I  fess  and  make  use  of  the  covenant.  .'  The  wisdom  of  t  ' 
tHEts  not  the  righteouBDcss  of  God.  And  licre  let  ine  < 
with  the  naked  profession  of  my  faith  lo  you  in  (his  pmnl,  wtuA  I 
ia  a  bulwark  of  defense  agabst  all  that  is  snid  by  AoabapMI)  I 
Bgainst  baptizing  of  infants. 

1.  That  the  children  of  professing  belie 
covenant  God  mode  with  Abraham :  Abraham  wajs  a  father  of  I 
many  nations,  and  not  of  one  nation  only  i  and  hence  the  si 
coveDant  made  with  him  and  the  believing  Israel  in  tbxt  luuiom 
the  same  covenaot  is  made  with  all  his  believing  seed  in  all  other 
nations.  2.  That  baptism  is  a  seal  of  our  first  entrance  and 
admission  into  covenant ;  and  therefore  is  to  be  immedialdy 
applied  to  children  of  believing  parents  as  soon  as  ever  they  be 
in  oovenaot,  and  that  'n  as  soon  as  they  become  tlie  visible  seed 
of  the  faithful,  for  so  the  covenant  to  Abraham  runs,  ("  I  will  be 
thy  God,  and  the  God  of  thy  .seed,")  not  only  his  elect  seed,  but 
church  seed,  (as  hath  been  showed,)  not  only  of  his  seed  in  ihit 
one  nation,  but  in 

These  two  things  I  can  not  tell  how  to  avoid  the  light  of,  lliej 
are  so  clear ;  and  the  ignorance  of  these  makes  so  many  Ana- 
bapdats,  (as  they  are  called,)  and  I  never  yet  met  with  any 
thing  written  by  them  (and  much  I  have  read)  tbat  was  of  any 
considerable  weight  to  overthrow  these.  But  I  forget  mj-setf, 
and  trouble  you :  my  prayer  is,  and  shall  be,  that  Ibe  Lord  would 
give  you  understanding  in  all  these  things. 


EMD    or  VOL. 


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